


Flames of Resolve

by Dareagon



Series: TsuNaru [1]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, Naruto
Genre: Crossover, Family Fluff, Flames in the Naruto-verse!!, Friendship, Gen, Kekkei Genkai | Bloodline Limit, Reincarnated Tsuna, Smart Sawada Tsunayoshi, Team Bonding, Team as Family, Tsuna is Naruto, Uzumaki Clan, no pairing yet - freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-11 17:14:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 32,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5635201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dareagon/pseuds/Dareagon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>REWRITTEN! He had always remembered. He remembered a life before this one, a better life. Sure, there was a lot of fighting involved, but he'd had a family. People so precious he had died for them. Literally… Tsuna reborn as Naruto</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Awakening the Flames

He had always remembered. He remembered a life before this one, a better life. Sure, there was a lot of fighting involved, but he'd had a family. People so precious he had died for them. Literally…

He couldn't really remember his earliest years in this realm. Yes, realm, because this clearly wasn't the world he was used to. It was too different to be.

He was lonely. True, neither of his childhoods had been very nice. He never had known what it meant to have a father, but he missed his mom, and in his teenage years he had finally made friends, who later became family. He even missed Reborn!

After all that going back to being even more alone than before was hell!

He believed in reincarnation. Dealing with Mukuro had made sure of that. Still, he knew something had gone wrong. He knew he wasn't supposed to remember.

But still, knowing his luck, something was bound to have gone wrong…

xx

He was stuck in an orphanage. At least for a while…

It was just his luck to be reborn as an orphan. Well, he had had parents, obviously but they had clearly passed away. He wasn't sure if he was happy he could still remember his previous life. On one hand he had the memories of his family to keep him company when the loneliness became too much, but it made him miss them even more.

The matron wasn't nice. She seemed to hate him with a passion and encouraged the other kids to bully him. He would love to get out of there, but the people in the village treated him exactly the same.

To survive he had stolen a wig one day and some make-up. Since then he wore both when he went out.

With his new brown hair and no whisker-marks in sight, he looked like a blue-eyed version of his old self. Still, no one seemed to recognize him and he could wander around the village peacefully.

And wander he did, especially after the matron had thrown him out of the orphanage. He didn't mind living on the streets. It was much more peaceful than living in the orphanage.

He didn't really understand this world. The technology was strange, almost backwards. They had stuff like showers and televisions, but phones and computers were non-existent.

And there were ninja everywhere. Even now, when he heard the word 'ninja' he immediately thought back to Reborn in one of his stupid cosplays, completely dressed in black. But here, apparently, ninja were different. From what he understood, ninja were a country's military power.

And they dressed in the most absurd outfits! He had spotted one in green spandex with orange leg-warmers and a weird hairstyle. He had immediately turned around and ran for it.

Still, he had debated with himself whether to become a shinobi or not. Years of training with Reborn had him conditioned to always be able to protect himself. Now, not having any access to his flames, he felt vulnerable.

So when he was six he visited the Hokage. He had wanted to enter the Academy, as the starting age was six, but apparently orphans could only do this with the authorisation of their guardian, which technically was the Hokage.

"You can go in now." The secretary gestured towards the door of the Hokage's office.

"Arigato." He nodded his head, stood up and knocked on the door.

"Enter."

He did. An aging old man in white robes sat behind a desk, smiling at him.

"How can I help you young man?"

Tsuna fidgeted nervously. The way this man studied him, his looks... he was strongly reminded of the Ninth. The man, who despite having barely meeting him as a child, he had called and considered a grandfather.

"I'd like to enter the Academy, but they told me I need to ask you for au-auto-ri-s-ation, Hokage-sama." He stumbled over the long word. Why did those teachers insist on using such big words?! How were six-year olds supposed to pronounce that!? And why did _he_ stumble on it?! He knew how to pronounce that word, dammit!

"Ah", the man nodded in understanding. "You have your form?"

Tsuna handed him the paper he had gotten from the Academy teacher had handed him.

"Have a seat."

The Hokage scanned the paper intently with a frown while Tsuna sat down.

"You didn't write down an address."

"I don't have one." Shrugged Tsuna.

"What about the Orphanage?"

Tsuna grimaced thinking back to that place. "The matron threw me out about two years ago."

The man blinked, stunned. "Excuse me? She threw you out?"

Tsuna fidgeted in his chair. Hope, suspicion and a bit of irritation shone in the man's eyes.

"Your birthday is October 10th?"

"H-hai."

"Naruto-kun?"

Tsuna blinked confused. "I'm sorry? What did you call me?"

"Are you Naruto-kun?"

"I don't know anyone by that name." said Tsuna uncertain.

"Did you dye your hair? If you are who I think you are, than your natural hair colour is blond. The matron said you ran away on your birthday two years ago." The man folded his hands together and rested his chin on them. The look in his eyes almost reminded Tsuna of Reborn.

"She threw me out." He muttered stubbornly.

"Then your name is Uzumaki Naruto. I've been on the lookout for you, and clearly I'll need to have a word with both the matron and the ANBU team looking for you." He frowned at that last part.

Tsuna shrugged. "All they ever called me was Demon child. So I gave myself a name, Tsunayoshi, Tsuna for short."

"Why that name?" asked the man.

"It seemed to fit. People don't recognize me looking like this." He shrugged once more.

The man eyed him pensively. "I'll sign your form, and you can keep your name, but you have to fill in an address."

And the man gave him an apartment. It wasn't the greatest, but apparently it was his. How it came to be his the Hokage wouldn't say. He also arranged for Tsuna to get an orphan fund once a month.

xx

"Class, this is Uzumaki Naruto." Introduced his new sensei him to his new class. Why did everyone insist on calling him by that name? Most of his paperwork used the name Tsunayoshi, but the Hokage had insisted on using his 'real' name for the Academy, so he had left his wig and make-up at home.

Whispers rose up to meet him before he could even open his mouth so all he did was sigh before he sat down in an empty seat.

The Academy turned out to be just as lonely as the rest of his life. Whatever grudge the village had against him, clearly it had spread to the children as well.

No one approached him. They left him alone, and Tsuna tried to blend in with the wallpaper. He tried to be as unnoticeable as possible, mostly to discourage bullies. It didn't work, until he one morning sat down next to Aburame Shino. Tsuna had noticed the boy was always alone, whether by choice or not wasn't clear.

"Good morning."

The boy inclined his head as Tsuna greeted him but didn't react otherwise.

His most noticeable bullies grimaced as they saw him sitting next to the Aburame clan heir. He suspected the boy's bloodline played a part in that. Tsuna could admit it took some getting used to. Not everybody walked around with bugs crawling under their skin after all…

Still, he made it a habit to sit next to the boy. They never really talked, so he wouldn't call them friends, but Aburame seemed to at least tolerate his presence.

Iruka-sensei made an effort to treat him as just another student and Tsuna appreciated the gesture but he could see the contempt in the man's eyes.

Mizuki-sensei on the other hand never bothered to disguise the hate he felt for the blond.

After a few weeks at the Academy, it became clear that Tsuna had a much bigger problem to deal with. He had been looking forward to learning about chakra. Being able to use ninjutsu, especially a henge, had excited him.

So of course he had trouble accessing his chakra. Trouble as in he didn't seem to have any chakra…

This didn't only frustrate Tsuna to no end, it also caused him trouble in and out of school. It took a while before at least Iruka-sensei started believing he really was having trouble and wasn't just pretending. That didn't stop some of his classmates from bullying him. No one helped him, he didn't have any friends…

This was his previous life all over again.

xx

It was in his last year at the Academy that Iruka-sensei took pity on him and helped him outside of school hours.

His sensei took him to a training ground not far from the school and gave him special exercises to help unlock his chakra.

"Everyone has chakra." Said the man. "It's impossible to live without."

Tsuna closed his eyes tightly, repressing the urge to face palm. Wouldn't it just be typical him to be that strange and not have any chakra…

"Now, we'll start with some meditation and then I'll try and feel your chakra with mine."

They both sat down in lotus position and Tsuna closed his eyes. Breathing deeply he tried to clear his mind and reach inside. He startled briefly as Iruka-sensei gently prodded him with what could only be his own chakra.

The energy felt strange, not at all like what he had been expecting. Maybe that was his problem. Somehow he had expected his chakra to feel like his flames had.

His flames had always felt warm and comfortable. Chakra didn't feel that way. It also wasn't cold or anything. It felt neutral, it was just there.

"How precious." Sneered a loud voice.

Both of them startled. It was Mizuki-sensei. The man hated him and reminded Tsuna a lot a Nezu-sensei. That man had hated him with the same passion.

"I can't believe you'd want to help that demon, Iruka." the white-haired man sneered.

"Demon, ka?" muttered Tsuna as he got up.

"Mizuki." Hissed Iruka in warning.

"Oh please," sneered the man again. "Why do you bother pretending, Iruka?"

"Shut up. It's called being professional. You are an Academy teacher, Mizuki." Hissed the brown haired chuunin.

"Geez, thanks." Muttered Tsuna bitterly. And here he had hoped Iruka had actually started to like him.

The man flinched and Mizuki laughed mockingly. "What did you expect, brat? Everyone in this village hates your guts!"

"I know." Stated Tsuna blandly.

Iruka flinched again and looked back towards Tsuna in shock.

"Ever wondered why?" sneered the white haired man.

Iruka turned back towards his colleague so fast he nearly gave himself a whiplash.

"It's forbidden to talk about that." He hissed.

"Why doesn't that surprise me..." Muttered Tsuna before he raised his voice. "So everyone knows about that except for me? Shouldn't that be the other way around?"

Both teachers looked stunned. "W-what?" asked Iruka confused.

"Well," he shrugged, "it just seemed more logical that I know a secret about myself and no one else does, instead of the other way around."

Mizuki shook his head as if to clear it. He sneered again.

"You do have a point. Shall I tell then?" he smiled evilly.

Tsuna only nodded, with a light frown. Finally... Finally he would know.

"You are the Kyuubi." The man laughed manically.

"STOP IT!" yelled Iruka.

"You killed Iruka's parents and all those other people when you attacked the village. Yondaime-sama sealed you away. But you can't fool anyone, not even looking like that. Everyone knows what you are!" yelled the white-haired teacher again.

"That is treason! Stop it!"

"You have been lied to by everyone!" Mizuki continued as if Iruka wasn't there. "Didn't you find it odd how everyone hated you?"

Tsuna gulped and wringed his hands. What did that mean? He turned away from the two chuunin. He didn't remember being a nine-tailed demon… Not like he remembered being Tsuna. But it did explain the behaviour of the people in the village.

"Iruka is the same! He really hates you!"

"Naruto!" called Iruka worried.

"Nobody will ever accept you." Said Mizuki as he surged forward.

Tsuna was thrown to the ground. Blood splotched on his face. Iruka was covering Tsuna with his body as the great Wind shuriken Mizuki had thrown was sticking out of his back. Blood dripped from the man's mouth onto Tsuna's scarred cheeks. Tears gathered in the boy's eyes.

"Why?"

"M-my parents... After they died, there was nobody to compliment me or acknowledge me. I was so sad… I would always act like an idiot to get people's attention." Iruka tried to explain. "Since I wasn't able to do well in things like school and get attention that way, it was better than being nothing, so I kept acting like an idiot."

Tsuna looked a bit unsure. What did this have to do with anything? It's not like he had ever acted like that…

"It was so painful." The man was crying now. "Yeah, Naruto, you must have been in a lot of pain too. I'm sorry Naruto. If I had done a better job, you wouldn't have had to feel like this."

Tsuna breathed heavily, but didn't reply. He understood his teacher a bit better now. It explained so much. Still…

Mizuki readied his second shuriken with a laugh that would classify him as a super-villain in Tsuna's previous world.

NO!

Tsuna rushed forward, breaking free from the grip Iruka had on him. Panic gripped him as Mizuki launched a windmill shuriken at them.

'Please no! I don't want to die!' Still the panic receded as determination gripped him. "I won't let you hurt Iruka-sensei!" The man might hate him, and he doubted that after his crying confession, but Tsuna had started to care for him. So he would protect him!

Flames burst free from him. He immediately recognized the feeling and gripped his chest with both his hands as he tried to keep it under control.

He really didn't fancy fighting Mizuki as a crazed lunatic in only his boxers…

"N-Naruto?" asked Iruka-sensei behind him, astonishment clear in his voice.

"What the hell!?" screamed Mizuki freaked out.

Tsuna felt himself calm down as he entered Dying Will Mode. He opened his eyes although he hadn't realised he had closed them. He was completely engulfed by his familiar orange flames. Both his teachers watched him with wide eyes.

He took a deep breath and diminished his flame output. That was better. The only flames that remained were those on his hands and on his forehead.

His flames! He got his Dying Will Flames back! He clenched his fists and surged forward, only to smash his right fist in Mizuki's face, knocking him unconscious.

"N-naruto?" asked Iruka-sensei softly. Tsuna turned around.

The man's breath hitched. "Your eyes… they're golden."

Tsuna blinked. Ha, so that had stayed the same as well. He didn't bother thinking too much about it.

"Are you all right, Iruka-sensei?"

The man nodded slightly, still stunned.

"Good." And with that the flames vanished and Tsuna fell unconscious.

**TBC?**


	2. Sky in the Leaf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn! I just wish I did.
> 
> Beta: the lovely Midnight-Kitsune11. Thank you for all your hard work. ;-)
> 
> Note: Thank you all for all the lovely reviews! I'm glad you all love this story even though I barely started. I really hadn't expected that much response! You guys are awesome!
> 
> On a side note, just to make things clear, I'm not really a fan of overpowered characters, especially in crossovers... So NO Godlike!Tsuna/Naruto.
> 
> Also NO harem! I don't really like that, Het, yaoi or whatever. I used to, but not anymore. Sorry to disappoint. I probably won't pair anyone with Tsuna, except if you all really want me to. He'll have his Uke!Tsuna moments, but those are practically canon anyway. ;-)
> 
> Enjoy!

He woke up to white.

He blinked. Ah, the hospital.

"Naruto?"

He blinked again as he turned his head.

"You are awake." smiled Iruka, relieved. "I'm glad."

With a relieved sigh, Tsuna briefly closed his eyes. His sensei was safe. He had done it.

"Naruto?"

He opened his eyes again. Iruka frowned concerned. "I'm glad you're alright, sensei."

"Of course." reassured the man gently. "But are you alright?"

Tsuna tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

Iruka scratched his nose. "Well, with everything Mizuki said... Not to mention those strange flames."

Tsuna shrugged. "I don't mind. I don't remember being the Kyuubi and I never hurt anyone that I know of."

"You didn't!" exclaimed Iruka.

"Tsuna-kun." greeted an elderly voice in the doorway. The Third Hokage entered the room.

"Sandaime." greeted Tsuna with a nod. He felt comfortable in the bed and didn't feel like moving too much.

"What did you call Naruto, Sandaime-sama?" Iruka looked confused.

"Young Naruto-kun gave himself the another name after having left the orphanage. On papers concerning civilian matters his name is Tsunayoshi." the man smiled. "I insisted he enrolled the Academy with his birth name."

Tsuna pouted.

Hiruzen laughed. "But he prefers to be called Tsuna. Now, little one, you gave us quite the scare. How are you feeling?"

"I'm tired." said Tsuna quietly.

The Hokage nodded. "Iruka told me what happened. You need to understand; The Kyuubi was sealed inside of you by the Yondaime Hokage as it rampaged through the village. I tried to protect you from the villagers by declaring it an S-rank secret. However, while they couldn't talk about it, they found other ways of expressing their... displeasure."

"So, I'm not the Kyuubi?" asked Tsuna, just to be sure.

The old man shook his head. "No, you are not."

Tsuna nodded his head in understanding.

"You did manage to unlock your chakra in the most peculiar way." The man mused.

Iruka straightened, clearly curious about this topic.

"No chakra, they're flames."

"Flames?"

The boy nodded as he studied his hands. A Reborn-like voice rang through his brain: 'Don't tell them, Dame-Tsuna. No sane person would believe your reincarnation story. They'll ship you to I&T before you can blink. I taught you to lie, didn't I? So make something up!'

"There were flames on my hands. They felt warm, but they didn't hurt." he said with childlike innocence in his voice.

"Hmmm... Do you think you could make those flames again?"

Tsuna narrowed his eyes at his hands and stared intently. He wasn't actually trying, but he didn't want them to know that.

"Don't overdo it, Narut- I mean, Tsuna-kun." Iruka worried as the child started fidgeting. "You only just woke up."

Tsuna shrugged. "They don't wanna come."

The Hokage stroked his beard. "Maybe they only appear in certain circumstances. Maybe you should try again later."

Tsuna nodded.

o-o-o

He got discharged from the hospital the next day.

Strangely enough, nothing much changed after he awakened his flames. The Academy stayed much the same. the only real difference was Iruka-sensei. The man acted more affectionate towards him. He had even started to call Tsuna by his chosen name outside of school.

Like today, Iruka-sensei had taken him aside before class, promising to take him to get something to eat after class if he tried to pay attention.

He had grabbed the opportunity, not wanting to eat alone for once. And Graduation was soon, so might as well...

He did notice some of his classmates. Some stood out to him, though he didn't know why...

The last Uchiha was seated in the front of the classroom, staring broodily at the board. He had thought the boy arrogant, snobbish, and he was, but now he got a lonely feeling from the boy.

Nara Shikamaru slept most of the day away on his desk if Iruka-sensei let him. He was lazy, no doubt about that but sometimes Tsuna noticed the boy's sharp gaze studying a fellow classmate.

Akimichi Choji, strangely enough, reminded him of Kyoko-chan. He was a gentle boy, innocent, despite being raised as a clan heir.

There were a lot of girls in his class, but most of them would never graduate from the Academy. At least he hoped they didn't. If they became shinobi, they would die. They were Uchiha fangirls... Enough said!

The only exception seemed to be Hyuuga Hinata, but the girl was so shy she didn't seem cut out for the job. He had been stunned to notice she seemed to have somewhat of a crush on him. Not knowing how to handle it, he had ignored it and pretended he to be too dense to notice. It had worked for Kyoko-chan in the end.

He had confessed his feelings for her, in another life, but she hadn't felt the same. Turned out she had known but had pretended not to notice so to not hurt him.

Iruka had taken him to a local ramen bar, Ichiraku Ramen. The people were friendly and had treated him well, despite not having been in disguise.

He liked that and made a note to visit regularly, even if it was fast food. He had liked ramen well enough in his previous life, but he adored the ramen Teuchi-san made! It came very close to his favorite, Yamamoto sushi.

After dinner he left his sensei and made his way to a training grounds. He chose one that was usually empty.

He simply stood still, closed his eyes and concentrated on his flames. He must have looked stupid to anyone passing by.

In his other life, Tsuna had finally managed to access his flames without getting shot by Reborn or taking any pills. It had taken him years and he didn't have any of that time here.

Trying to activate his flames would prove to be a challenge to his patience.

He felt their warmth and he only had his past life's experience to thank for his success, even if it took him another three hours to bring the Sky flames out.

He frowned as he opened his eyes. The usual calm he felt when entering hyper-dying will mode enveloped him. It was strange, being so long ago, and reassuring at the same time. He raised his hands to study the flames there.

Night had fallen.

Bright soft orange sky flames burned brightly on his skin. To anyone else, the thought of fire on bare skin would have freaked them out, but for Tsuna it was like welcoming an old friend home. Finally something familiar in this strange world.

He wondered what he looked like now.

He giggled as he tried to imagine it. With his blond hair and blue eyes, he must look almost like Vongola Primo.

He deactivated his hyper-dying will mode and made his way home. He blinked as he entered his kitchen and saw a package on his kitchen table. It wasn't wrapped, in fact it reminded him of a postal package, but without any text on it.

Warily he opened it.

"HHIIEE!" he screamed in surprise as he saw the orange box weapon. He quickly slapped both his hands over his mouth. Warily he looked around to see if anyone had heard him.

It was reflex.

Even after all these years, Reborn hadn't managed to beat, yes beat, that habit completely out of him.

How the hell did that get here?! He grabbed it and held it firmly in his hand. He resisted the urge to hold it to his ear and shake it.

There was an opening, like in all the box weapons, but he didn't have a ring...

He sat the box on his table, activated his flames and gently brought his right hand to the opening.

The box opened in a burst of sky flames that made him shield his face.

"Konnichiwa, Tsunayoshi-kun!" grinned a see-through Byakuran.

"B-byakuran!?" Tsuna watched his fellow Sky with wide blue eyes. He had not seen this coming!

"Congratulations! You got the box and managed to open it! Now, as you might have already guessed, you very much died."

Tsuna hit the palm of his hand against his forehead.

"And you might have guessed that you have been reincarnated!" the man pouted. "You died quite suddenly and you family has been bothering me even since! They can be very stubborn when they put their mind to it."

Tsuna smiled fondly as Byakuran sighed mournfully. "They are cutting into my time pestering Sho-chan. I'd ask you to do something about it, but..."

The white haired teen shrugged. "Not much you can do now. Anyway, you can thank your Mist guardian for your memories. I'm not sure what he did, and he assured me no one would ever find out, but the pineapple seemed very smug when I told them you had been reborn. He and the girl insisted I send you a message." The mafia boss pouted again. "After all my efforts with Yuni-chan to get you reborn in that world, the meanies."

Tsuna frowned. What the hell had his family and friends all been doing!?

"Anyway, there was nothing that could be done for you there – you were dying – so Yuni and I used the Tri-ni-set to send you to a world where it'd be possible to awaken your flames again. You'll only get this message if you manage to do that, by the way." He had the audacity to wink. Tsuna gritted his teeth in frustration. "So good luck and bye bye!"

Byakuran waved and the message ended. The box closed and sat motionless on the table.

Tsuna let his head hit the table. That had basically been useless!

TBC.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone see this coming? ;-) More surprises to come!


	3. The Sky who accepts all

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for all the lovely reviews! I'm glad you all love this story even though I barely started.
> 
> Enjoy!

Life at the Academy didn't change a lot in the months that followed. Tsuna spend a lot of time skipping school in order to train his flames.

Three other kids often joined him in making an escape for it. Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji and Inuzuka Kiba. They ditched him once they had gotten away, but they spoke to him every once in a while, which was an improvement.

Thanks to Iruka-sensei he had managed to not only unlocked his chakra, but he had also managed to access his flames thanks to the unfortunate incident with Mizuki. Academics however, had never been his strong suit... And without Reborn here to 'motivate' him, Tsuna hadn't bothered to learn more than strictly necessary.

He knew some exercises to help him control his flames (he regularly climbed the Hokage mountain Reborn-style), but still he had trouble with his chakra.

Iruka-sensei had taught them all an exercise to make a leaf stick to their forehead with chakra. Apparently it should help better their chakra control... It didn't do much of anything. It took him ages to make it work and it didn't really help him with control. He had mastered the Henge and the Kawarimi, but the Bunshin... His clones always looked like they had been dead for ages.

Seeing no way out, he went back to the Sandaime. Iruka-sensei had went with him and they explained the problem. Turned out, despite having only had access to his chakra for a few months, his reserves were huge! As in Jounin class huge! The Hokage had immediately surmised that with reserves like that, he'd get to be taught another jutsu – the Kage Bunshin. Which made real clones. Surprisingly it only took him a few hours to learn it...

He had gotten used to hours slaving away on practice these days...

-o-o-o-

Tsuna sighed as he waited in the back of the classroom.

The last few months had been hard. Learning to use the Kage Bunshin no jutsu had helped him graduate. He was very thankful to the Sandaime.

He now proudly wore a Konoha headband!

Still dead last though...

Seemed like all his hard work the last few months didn't weigh up against his abominable grades from the past few years...

Still he had made it! He got his picture taken and got his paperwork done. (A personal achievement. Reborn would be, not proud, but content with his work ethics. He used to run away from paperwork as Decimo.)

Meeting Konohamaru-kun had been something else. The young boy's appearance had hit Tsuna like a brick in the stomach thrown by Reborn. The child reminded him too much of Fuuta and Lambo to feel very comfortable around him. Konohamaru hadn't minded that and had glued himself to Tsuna for the rest of the day, calling the blond nii-chan all the while.

He had felt like crying. Luckily any adults who saw him only thought he hadn't any experience around kids and thought he felt awkward around the kid.

It didn't help that boy seemed to worship him!

Still he would get a team today! Something to look forward to!

"Oya, Naruto, you managed to pass?"

He turned towards the voice. Nara Shikamaru stood before him, rubbing his head with a bored look on his face.

"Ah, Nara-san. Hai, I did." He smiled brightly.

The boy looked away with an uneasy look on his face.

"Who'd have thought you'd graduate, dead last?" Smirked Inuzuka Kiba.

Tsuna just smiled innocently, throwing the boy off guard.

"Oy! Naruto, move your ass!" A pink-haired girl yelled angrily.

"HIIEEE!"

"I want to sit next to Sasuke-kun!"

"Huh?" He turned in surprise, and indeed, a bit further sat Uchiha Sasuke.

The boy stared broodlingly at nothing in particular. Not wanting to cause any trouble, Tsuna moved to the side a bit to let the now giddy girl pass.

"Sasuke-kun, can I sit next to you?" she smiled innocently as she shoved past Tsuna.

Tsuna had to grab the desk not to fall to the ground. The raven didn't react.

"How troublesome." Grunted Shikamaru, annoyed, as he walked away.

"Sit down everyone!" yelled Iruka-sensei as he entered the room.

The man looked around seeing his students getting in their seats. "Starting today, you are all real shinobi, but you are still genin. The hard journey that lies ahead of you has just started. Now, you will soon go on missions to help the village, so today we will divide you in three man teams and assign you a jounin-sensei. You will follow your sensei's instructions in order to successfully complete your missions."

Tsuna fidgeted in his chair, eagerly awaiting the names of his future team-mates.

"… Ok, next team, team 7. Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke."

Really? Tsuna's banged his head on his desk. Why did he have to be paired up with mister anti-social and the fan-girl?

The girl next to him went from completely depressed to ecstatic in a few seconds. That couldn't be healthy…

Iruka-sensei dismissed them for lunch.

Tsuna turned towards his team-mates but Sasuke was already leaving the classroom. Sakura, being the loyal fan-girl, ran after him. He sighed.

"Tsuna-kun? Shouldn't you go eat something with your friends?" asked his sensei.

He shrugged. "Don't have any friends, and my team-mates already left."

Iruka bit his lips. "Did you bring lunch?"

Tsuna beamed, "Yes, I made it myself," and silently thanked his mother, Nana. She had insisted on teaching him how to cook once he started planning to move out. Never mind that he was moving into the Vongola mansion and had a team of chefs to cook for him.

Iruka smiled softly. "Hmm, you can eat here if you want. I'll keep you company."

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei."

"Mah, no need for that anymore. You graduated, Tsuna-kun. I'm not your sensei anymore."

"Iruka-san then?" Tsuna tilted his head.

Iruka rubbed his chin. "Sounds too formal. We know each other better than that now, right?" He winked.

Tsuna blushed. "Iruka-nii-san then." He muttered.

Iruka laughed. "You're cute when you blush."

Tsuna blushed bright red. He distracted himself by grabbing into his bag for his lunch. Iruka grinned contently at him.

-o-o-o-

Team 7 turned out to become weirder by the second. Their sensei, one Hatake Kakashi, had turned up hours late. Everyone else had already left the classroom, even Iruka-nii, and when he finally arrived he briefly poked his head inside the door and told them to meet him on the roof.

Tsuna only got a good look at his sensei once they all sat down on the roof. The man had gravity defying silver hair and covered most of his face with either a face-mask or his headband. Tsuna sweat-dropped just looking at him. Oh boy…

"Well," started the man, "Let's begin with introductions."

"What do you want to know, sensei?" asked the girl.

"How about your likes, dislikes, your dreams for the future and things like that."

"Why don't you go first?" Sakura asked again.

"Mah... My name is Hatake Kakashi, I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future? Hmmm…" He trailed off. "And I have lots of hobbies." He smiled brightly, at least, as far as Tsuna could see with most of his face covered.

"So all he told us was his name?" muttered Sakura annoyed.

Tsuna hummed.

"Now it's your turn, let's start with the blond."

"R-right, my name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like…Well my likes and dislikes are tightly bound together and so is my dream. Which is to once again have a family and to be able protect all those precious to me."

Kakashi-sensei blinked at him, as if stunned by what he said. Even his team-mates looked at him with a frown.

"W-what?" asked Tsuna self-conscious.

"I don't think I ever heard you say that much in one go." Stated Sakura, bluntly.

Sasuke snorted and Sakura turned to him with hearts in her eyes. Tsuna rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Mah, mah, next, pinkie."

What followed next was a giggle fest. She barely managed to speak a few words between giggling, squealing and making coy eyes at the Uchiha heir. Tsuna felt disturbed in the guy's place.

Sasuke's introduction was broody, swearing revenge against 'a certain man'. Tsuna inched away from him.

Their sensei dismissed them after warning them about their team's survival training the next day.

-o-o-o-

They had been team 7 for about a week now. The bell test had been a disaster, enough said.

He had tried to use his Kage Bunshin in a fight, but… it hadn't been a good idea. His clones were too independent and all had different personalities. Not to mention he had found out his clones couldn't use his Sky flames. It wasn't a jutsu he would use again anytime soon.

Still, miraculously they had all passed. Kakashi gave a speech about teamwork and magically expected them to be a team the next day.

It didn't quite work out… Sasuke was too arrogant, thinking he could do everything by himself and all Sakura did was fan-girl over him. Talk about an ego boost…

Tsuna had tried to get closer to his team-mates but they continuously brushed him off.

Kakashi-sensei let them be, probably thinking they would sort their issues out with time, but for Tsuna, who had fought closely together with his guardians and friends, nothing could be further from helpful.

They needed training, they needed to train together, and he seemed to be the only one in this team who noticed.

He had tried to ask Kakashi multiple times to train them, or at least to give them some exercises to work on, but the man vanished before he could even ask the question. Tsuna was beginning to suspect the man didn't like him, at all…

It was after another morning of D-rank missions that Tsuna approached his teacher again as he dismissed them.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

"Mah, not today, Naruto." And the man disappeared.

Tsuna sighed. He was getting used to this. The man seemed to be avoiding him… again. He had been doing this every time Tsuna had approached him.

"Hn, dobe." Sneered Uchiha Sasuke.

Sakura frowned at him. "Baka, sensei clearly has better things to do."

"Better things to do? Instead of teaching us?" frowned Tsuna.

The girl faltered. "Huh?"

Tsuna shrugged. "I want to ask him some more exercises to improve chakra control."

She blinked, confused, then shrugged. "Sensei dismissed us for today. He'll probably teach us later. He's a jounin, you know. One of the village's elite." And with that she turned towards Sasuke. "Right, Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn." The boy turned away from his team-mates and started walking away.

"Don't you guys wanna… train together?" The blond shouted before he trailed off. He sighed. Always the same…

He made his way to the middle of team 7's training field. With a last deep sigh he gathered his resolve and entered Hyper Dying Will mode.

Soft orange flames covered his hands and appeared on his forehead. He inspected his sleeves. Initially he had noticed that his flames burned away any cloth they came in touch with, so he had been experimenting with fabrics. Now he wore a black long sleeve shirt with an open orange shirt over. (see story pic) He had bought it, wearing his Tsuna-henge, in a shop that sold shinobi clothes.

The black long sleeves shirt was specially made to resist chakra heavy attacks. It seemed to work.

"SUGOI!"

Tsuna faltered and turned around in shock. Only to blink rapidly in shock. A boy was standing before him, fists raised and stars shining in his eyes. He had a weird bowl-like haircut with huge eyebrows and wore a green spandex suit with orange leg warmers.

Seeing the strange boy unbalanced him to such a degree his flames dissolved.

The boy ran towards him and shook him by the shoulders.

"What was that?! How did you make those flames? Are they strong?!" The kid yelled.

"A-ano…" Tsuna stuttered with swirls in his eyes.

The boy released him. "Ah gomen!"

A wave of dizziness hit him and he fell down on his behind. Tsuna rubbed his head.

"I'm Rock Lee! Who are you?" asked the boy who lowered himself to be able to look Tsuna in the eyes.

Something about this boy felt familiar…

"AH, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, but you can call me Tsuna."

"Tsuna? What a weird nickname." Grinned Lee. "Nah, nah, what were those flames?"

"Haha," laughed Tsuna awkwardly. "I call them Sky flames."

"Sugoi! Such a youthful power! Can you teach me!? Or is it a bloodline?" yelled the other enthusiastically.

"I have no idea." Tsuna muttered with wide eyes. Onii-san! That's who this kid reminded him of. Lee had the same 'extreme' way of behaving.

The boy deflated. "Ah, unlucky!" he smiled at Tsuna. "Probably not then. Seeing as I can't use any chakra."

Tsuna's eyes widened. "R-really?" He bit his lip. He wanted to tell the boy about his own troubles with chakra, but he didn't want to give Lee any false hope at being able to use Dying Will flames. Still, the boy was clearly a genin. He might not have Dying Will flames, but maybe Tsuna didn't have to be alone today.

"Do you have some time to train?"

Lee nodded so enthusiastically Tsuna was afraid his head would come off. "Gai-sensei dismissed us for today. I was going to run 30 laps around the village! If I can't do that I'll have to run 40 as punishment! And-"

"Would you mind if I joined you? My sensei and team-mates left me behind." Tsuna interrupted quickly feeling a rant coming.

Lee grinned broadly, "Of course! Let's go!" and he ran off.

"W-wait for me!" Tsuna yelled as he chased behind the older boy.

-o-o-o-

**TBC.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do you think? Let me know with a comment!!


	4. Sunny interference

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn! I just wish I did.  
> Beta: the lovely Midnight-Kitsune11. Thank you for all your hard work. ;-)
> 
> Note: Thank you all for all the lovely reviews! I'm glad you all love this story even though I barely started.  
> A special thanks to Vuurvlieg (or Leefdoor on AO3) for our very inspiring talks! You’ve been a real inspiration!

He started training with Lee, at least a few hours a day after team meetings. The boy was always alone. They had been at it for about a week now.

Although the resemblance to Ryohei still hurt, it also helped combat the loneliness. Plus, Tsuna could feel himself getting better, and quickly. No more skipping out on practice because he didn't feel like it – Lee would come get him if that was the case.

The boy was enthusiastic, but Tsuna discovered he could get him to at least tone the volume down a bit. The boy just needed a bit of attention. Positive attention, that is.

Ever since he had awakened his flames, he had felt his famous Hyper intuition almost 'whispering' to him. There weren't any words, just feelings. Tsuna had learned very early on to trust those feelings with his life, and they had never failed him. All they had been doing until now was directing his attention to certain people.

Lee was one of those people, his team-mates were others.

He still didn't know why...

"Tsuna-kun!"

He startled and looked at his... friend? "Hai, Lee-kun?"

"I told Gai-sensei about our training together!" yelled the bowl-haired shinobi. "And he asked to meet my YOUTHFUL training partner!"

His ears rung. True, Lee didn't shout like he used to, but the words 'youth' and 'youthful' were still yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Uhm... Sure." Tsuna hesitated.

Lee had told him stories about his team, his sensei in particular. He still wasn't sure if he wanted to meet the man... Two of them might be a bit much. Still, maybe he could go over tomorrow or the day after-

Lee grabbed him, swung him over his shoulder and ran off.

"HIE! What are you doing?!" Tsuna yelled as he waved his arms around.

"Hahahaha!" Lee laughed joyfully as he continued running.

He ran through the village towards who knows where. Tsuna hid his face in his hands and knew, he just knew, he was blushing like crazy. What a picture they would make like this...

"Lee! Put the poor kid down!" a female voice yelled angrily.

They came to an abrupt stop, only for Tsuna to grab onto his friend to keep his balance as Lee was violently shook.

"Tenten, you're not helping." sighed another voice.

"Oops."

"Ow." Tsuna fell hard on the ground. He rubbed his head as he slowly got up.

"I'm so sorry. Are you all right?" brown eyes peered at him worriedly.

"YOSH, my youthful students! Let us greet Lee's youthful training partner!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

Tsuna blinked. "I must have hit my head pretty hard when I fell down."

Clones. They had to be clones. While Lee was smaller, and clearly younger, the two were otherwise identical. Same bowl-cut hair, same eyebrows! (and here Tsuna lightly shuddered), same green spandex outfit.

And they were hugging the stuffing out of each other before a sunset background that came out of nowhere!

A guy snorted. "They are always like that. We still don't know where the background comes from."

Tsuna got up.

Ignoring the weird pair, he turned towards the other guy, who was clearly a Hyuuga. Pale skin, long black hair, and white eyes. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest and observed Tsuna curiously. The girl smiled at him. She wore her brown hair in two buns and was dressed in what Tsuna would have called an almost Chinese clothing style. Both wore their headband on their forehead.

He assumed they were Lee's team-mates.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, but please call me Tsuna." he smiled innocently at them. "It's nice to meet you. Are you Lee-kun's team-mates?"

"Hai," replied the girl. "I'm Tenten."

"Hyuuga Neji." The guy turned away with a slight blush.

Tsuna tilted his head. What was that about?

"I don't remember you from in the Academy. Have you been genin long?"

"About a year now. We'll be participating in the next chuunin exams." explained Tenten.

He nodded.

"YOSH! It's very nice to meet you!" Lee and their sensei joined them. "I am Maito Gai!"

"Uzumaki Naruto, but Tsuna is fine."

Gai adopted a thinking pose. "Uzumaki Naruto? Where have I heard that before?"

Probably the Kyuubi thing... How did anyone forget about that? Tsuna sweat dropped.

"Don't mind him." Tenten waved her sensei away. "He'll be at it for a while."

"Why Tsuna? As a nickname, it doesn't resemble your name in any way..." asked Neji curiously. "Where does it come from?"

"As expected from my rival! I knew you would notice!" Lee exclaimed loudly.

Neji turned dead pan eyes towards his team-mate. "Do you know the answer then?"

"Hahaha!" Lee laughed happily, not answering.

Tsuna smiled sheepishly."I'm an orphan. I only learned my official name on the day I wanted to start in the Academy. So I had named myself years ago. I guess I just can't get used to being called Naruto."

"And you choose Tsuna?" asked Tenten, while Neji nodded.

"Tsunayoshi, but Tsuna for short."

"AH! I remember!" exclaimed Gai as he pointed dramatically at Tsuna, who started to inch away with wide eyes. "You're Uzumaki Naruto! You're one of my Eternal Rival's students!"

"Ha?"

Gai held his chin in his hand while nodding wisely. "Yes, yes, I am certain of it! My Eternal Rival sure lucked out with such a youthful student!"

"Uhm what is he talking about?"

"Your sensei is Hatake Kakashi?" asked Tenten.

He nodded.

She sighed. "Oh boy."

He felt even more confused. She saw his expression and explained. "Our sensei and yours have this strange rivalry going. They challenge each other at random times to do the stupidest things. We saw your sensei challenge ours to a Jan-ken-Po contest once."

"Really?" Tsuna watched her with wide eyes.

All three genin nodded. Only Lee looked pleased about it.

"Oh boy indeed." Tsuna sighed.

"How has Kakashi been doing? He's been so busy with his new team I barely see him around." asked the jounin.

"Uhm... I'm not sure? I mean I barely see him myself." said Tsuna hesitantly. Part of him didn't want to get his sensei in trouble, but on the other hand, he had only spoken the truth.

"Ha?" Gai blinked confused.

Tsuna quickly explained. "Well, yes, he always shows up late, give us a few D-rank missions to complete and then leaves again."

"What about training?" asked Neji with a frown.

Tsuna shrugged. "He always leaves when I want to ask him about it. Same with my team-mates. We haven't managed to really connect. But I've been training by myself and now I'm training with Lee-kun."

"Nani?" asked Gai with a frown. He exchanged a look with his genin. A determined glint entered their eyes.

Tsuna blinked.

-o-o-o-

He blinked again. He had just joined his team-mates at their usual meeting place when suddenly a green blur materialized before them in a shunshin.

"Good morning, team 7!" yelled Gai in greeting.

Sasuke frowned at the man while Sakura blinked repeatedly.

"Ohayoo, Gai sensei." greeted Tsuna back.

"Tsuna-kun!" Lee yelled as he and his team-mates joined them.

They greeted each other.

"What are you doing here? N-not that I'm not glad to see you but..."

"Gai-sensei decided we would join your team for training." smiled Tenten brightly.

"Oi, dobe, who are they?" asked Sasuke with narrowed eyes. "And how do you know them?"

Tsuna flinched a bit at the nickname. Neji narrowed his eyes at the Uchiha heir.

"We're team 9. We've been helping your team-mate with his training." He sounded strangely possessive of someone he had just met the day before.

The two prodigies glared at each other.

Sakura was giggling at the boys.

Neji might have exaggerated a bit. True, Tsuna sparred with Lee almost everyday now, but he had only met the rest of team 9 yesterday.

He had enjoyed the free-for-all they had had, though. Lee and his team were good, and he had been exhausted afterwards. Gai had had to carry him back to his apartment.

"Yosh! Let's get some training done!" Yelled Lee enthusiastically.

"Indeed Lee!" Gai gave them a thumbs up."But where is my Eternal rival?!"

"Kakashi-sensei probably won't be here for another two or three hours." explained Tsuna.

Gai grabbed his chin and adopted a thinking pose. "Ah!" he exclaimed pointing a 'Eureka' finger up in the sky. "I'll be right back!"

And he shunshined away.

"Let's start with 10 laps around Konoha as a warm up!" yelled Lee.

Tsuna groaned. He was still sore from yesterday.

Tenten grabbed the boy by his collar. "Lee, we should wait for Gai-sensei to come back. Let's just stretch for now."

"Good idea." agreed Neji. "Will you join us, Tsuna?" He cast an evil eye at the rest of team 7 as Tsuna stepped forward.

Sasuke alternated between glaring at team 9, but mostly the Hyuuga boy, while Sakura inched closer to her crush. Neither joined them in their stretching.

In another small tornado of leaves Gai appeared again, carrying a knocked-out Kakashi tied-up with thick ropes.

Team 7 watched with wide eyes as the man dumped their sensei on the ground.

That seemed to have woken up Kakashi.

"G-Gai, what the hell are you doing?" The man asked, shocked.

"My eternal rival! I have decided to have my team join your practice!"

"Ha?"

"Alright!" Gai ignored his fellow sensei. "Let's start with 100 Push-ups, 100 Squats and 10 laps around Konoha!"

Tsuna paled.

"Ano, Gai-sensei?" Neji raised a hand and smirked at Sasuke. "Maybe you should start us off on something simpler. I don't think all members of team 7 are used to such a heavy workout."

"What did you say?" Lightning sparked as the two glared at each other.

"A-ano, sensei? We don't really have to do all that, do we?" asked Sakura hesitantly.

Tenten frowned at her.

"Gai..."

"No, Kakashi, we had a youthful challenge about this and I won!" The man smiled and a sparkly, flower background appeared behind him. "So I get to train both our teams today! Let's go, train with the power of youth!"

-o-o-o-

"H-how the hell-" Sasuke gasped to breath. "Are you still... standing?"

Tsuna struggled to keep standing as he grasped his knees. "I just... have a lot of stamina."

Both his team-mates were laying on the ground.

It was noon. They had been training with team 9 since 7 o'clock in the morning. Sakura had passed out two hours ago, but Sasuke had been struggling stubbornly to keep up.

"I don't remember that from in the Academy." Sasuke remarked as he closed his eyes, facing the sky.

"I tried to keep a low profile. Most people don't like me."

Sasuke opened his eyes and frowned at the blond. Sweat shone on his forehead.

"Now, to finish today's youthful training, we will hold a sparring session."

"He's nuts." Commented Sasuke with a dead pan look on his face.

Tsuna giggled. "True, but at least we're getting some training."

Sasuke studied the blond before he tried to get up. Tsuna grabbed his arm to help steady him and was pleasantly surprised when the raven haired genin didn't push him away.

Yosh! Two volunteers! Tenten, why don't you spar with them?" Gai suggested loudly.

She nodded. The three members of team 9 looked tired but it was clear for everyone to see that they had gotten used to such training sessions.

"Kakashi will oversee your spar. I'll keep an eye on Lee and Neji."

Kakashi approached his students as Gai took Lee and Neji away to an other training field. He had a strange look in his eye.

"Well then, ready? Start."

Tsuna reacted without thinking. He grabbed Sasuke and dodged.

"Hey!" the Uchiha yelped.

He had moved just in time. Tenten had unsealed a huge scroll and began throwing a mass of weapons their way.

Tsuna didn't manage to dodge all of them in time. He could feel small wounds opening on his body. Nothing serious but enough to hurt.

Sasuke began a series of hand seals and Tsuna turned them mid jump towards the girl.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Justu!" Sasuke breathed a huge fireball at her, obliterating the next salvo she send their way.

She jumped away to dodge the attack.

Tsuna released Sasuke and rushed towards Tenten. He knew he was fast. He always had been. He was actually just about as fast as Lee, as long as the older boy was wearing his weights, and he was definitely faster than Tenten.

He engaged her in close combat. Tenten, he figured, was more of a long-distance fighter. This didn't mean she couldn't fight hand-to-hand. She had to, with her team-mates.

Tsuna relaxed. When he fought, he had learned to completely give in to his Hyper Intuition. It was a comfort to just react, read her movements and anticipate. He knew instinctively how she was going to move and countered. Reborn had pushed him in this fighting style, if you could call it that. Sure, he had taught Tsuna a whole lot of fighting styles and techniques, but he had honed Tsuna's Hyper Intuition so well that sometimes the now blond boy thought it had become paranoia.

Unconsciously he moved and adapted to welcome Sasuke's help in the fight when the raven rushed to join him.

He smiled at the smug Uchiha heir when they managed to immobilize Tenten. Sasuke held a kunai at her throat while Tsuna twisted both her arms behind her back.

The two team-mates made eye contact, triumph shining in their eyes.

"Good job you two. Nice example of teamwork." Kakashi praised.

They released Tenten, who smiled at them.

Tsuna smiled in delight as Sasuke nodded at him in acknowledgement. It might not be much, but for them it was a huge step forward.

**TBC.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think?


	5. Journey to Wave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn! I just wish I did.  
> Beta: the lovely Midnight-Kitsune11. Thank you for all your hard work. ;-)  
> Note: Thank you all for all the lovely reviews! I'm glad you all love this story even though I barely started.  
> To answer some questions that a few have you have asked:  
> 1) Will Tsuna guardian's and reborn also be reincarnated?  
> No they won’t. Tsuna will be the only one.  
> 2) Pairing?  
> Some of you have asked for a pairing, some ask for a threesome. And while I don’t like harem fics (whether Het, Slash or other) I don’t mind threesomes. I’m not sure if I’ll do any pairings, but if I do pair Tsuna with anyone, it won’t be for a while yet. Maybe in shipuuden, but Tsuna would feel too much like a paedophile to even think about having a crush right now…  
> 3) Will others in the Naruto-verse have flames?  
> This is to remain a surprise :D I won’t answer this one yet. But if they do, than the flames will be based on characters personalities, and not possible bloodlines…  
> A special thanks to Vuurvlieg (or Leefdoor on AO3) for our very inspiring talks! You've been a real inspiration!  
> Enjoy!

 Tsuna had watched in silence at the circus before him. He didn't know how, but somehow they had gotten a C-rank mission.  
Sakura had snapped yesterday. In the middle of the Hokage’s office…  
Kakashi had finally started 'training' them, mostly by having free-for-all spars with his team that were supposed to be team building exercises.  
Today had been the worst yet.  
Kakashi had arrived an hour late. The three teens had already stretched and eyed the oddly cheerful man warily.  
The man smiled at them. "Today you'll be doing an obstacle course."  
They blinked at him.  
"An obstacle course?" asked Sakura, confused.  
Kakashi nodded. "I know what you're going to say, Sakura. Yes, you already did this in the Academy. This time, however, will be a bit more complicated."  
He cheerfully spun two pairs of handcuffs around a finger.  
Tsuna blanched as a clear image of Hibari flashed over his sensei.  
"It'll be fun." Kakashi smiled again.  
It hadn't been. At all...  
The man had gleefully cuffed their hands together, Tsuna in the middle of Sasuke and Sakura.  
"Now, go and meet me on training field 35." He shunshined away.  
They blinked after him.  
"So..." Tsuna broke the awkward silence. "Anyone any idea where training ground 35 is?"  
It had been hell. Long story short, three quarter of the time he had been busy making sure Sakura didn't violate Sasuke. It was a disaster. The less said about that the better...  
So Tsuna could very well understand why Sakura snapped later that day, in the Hokage's office.  
It was like watching an accident happen. Tsuna was staring at the ranting with wide eyes. He knew he should interfere, but he couldn't help but stare.  
"No, We've done enough of those missions! I'm tired of babysitting kids and weeding gardens! Or even worse, chasing that damned cat! We've had to collect it three times already! Three times! In as many days! We've been training very hard! Give us something better! " she yelled at the Hokage.  
Iruka frowned angrily at the girl, while the Hokage raised an eyebrow at her.  
"Mah, mah, Sakura." Kakashi urged the girl.  
Sasuke sighed in irritation.  
Tsuna sighed. True, they had been doing a lot D-ranks, and she was right, they had ended up with the catch-Tora-chan mission already three times and it was only Thursday...  
So while he wasn't a great teacher, Kakashi seemed to have finally taken his job somewhat seriously.  
-o-o-o-  
They had left Konoha the next day. It was supposed to be a simple escort mission but his intuition had been playing up ever since they started this mission. Kakashi had just finished answering Sakura's questions as the feeling intensified.  
"You alright there, Naruto?" asked their sensei. "You seem a bit skittish."  
"Something isn't right." muttered the blond.  
"Hn." scoffed Sasuke disbelievingly.  
Tsuna bit his lip, but continued to warily watch his surroundings. He knew better than to dismiss his hyper intuition.  
They passed a puddle on the floor.  
Everything in Tsuna was screaming for him to move, to do something. Anything! It was like a red alert was going off in his head. Feeling eyes on his back he turned his head around, just in time to see two shinobi emerge from the small pool of water on the ground.  
He moved as they did. He reached out and pushed Kakashi out of the way as the two moved around his sensei, a spiky chain ready to envelop the older man.  
However, seeing as Kakashi wasn't there to intercept the chains, they continued on, barely missing Tsuna as Kakashi had grabbed him after being pushed.  
The others turned back at the first sign of a commotion.  
"Now, now." breathed their sensei, put out.  
Tsuna eyed him with a raised eyebrow.  
The two shinobi rushed forward, completely ignoring Tsuna and Kakashi.  
"Kyaaa!" screeched Sakura in shock.  
Sasuke surged forward. He threw a shuriken and a kunai, accurately pinning the chain to a tree. He kicked both of them in the face at the same time. The chain was released, freeing both shinobi.  
Seeing that Kakashi wasn't moving, Tsuna rushed to help his team-mate.  
He ran forward to intercept the fastest of the two enemies, giving Sasuke time to pursue the other. Sakura jumped in front of their client but Tsuna was faster. He kicked the shinobi harshly in the side, sending him tumbling away from the battle.  
Sensing both Sasuke and Kakashi more than seeing them with his back turned, he rushed forward to continue his assault. If Reborn has taught him one thing, it was to not show any mercy, and to not underestimate your opponent. Before the guy could get up, he harshly delivered a blow to a pressure point in his neck, rendering him unconscious.  
He breathed a sigh of relief before he turned back to his team.  
Tazuna had staggered back in shock. Sakura was shaking with wide eyes, clearly going into shock. Sasuke was glaring harshly, whether still from the battle or at their sensei he wasn't sure. Kakashi on the other hand, had the other ninja in a shock hold and was studying Tsuna intently.  
"Finally decided to help out, sensei?" Tsuna asked with a light frown.  
"Mah, mah, you and Sasuke seemed to have everything under control." The man smiled.  
He eyed the man sceptically. Kakashi approached him. He quickly bound the two men together to a tree.  
"Tazuna-san, we need to have a talk. These are missing ninja from Kiri. Chuunin rank and above ninja who are known to continue fighting no matter what. These two were clearly targeting you. You registered this mission as a C-rank, meaning bandits and thieves at the most. Shinobi were not included in that. This mission has become a B – above what rookie genin are supposed to be handling. Care to explain yourself?"  
The man started sweating at Kakashi's narrowed eye.  
"Ano, sensei..." Sakura hesitated, "Shouldn't we be heading back? I mean, you said it yourself, this isn't a mission for genin, so..."  
Tsuna frowned. He looked at their third team-mate, only to see that Sasuke was standing next to him. The raven threw him an exasperated look.  
"Hmmm." Kakashi mused. "Maybe it is a bit much but you guys managed this better than I thought you would."  
Sasuke snorted but didn't say anything.  
"Sensei, saying something like that doesn't really reflect well on you, especially since you left us to deal with it on our own."  
"I'm sorry I scared you, Naruto-kun." The man smiled.  
Tsuna raised an eyebrow.  
"Let's keep going." Sasuke said suddenly. "These two weren't much of a challenge."  
Kakashi stroked his chin. "Hmm, Sasuke wants to continue and Sakura wants to head back. Seems like we're at a stalemate. What do you think Naruto?"  
Tsuna shifted nervously at all the attention. "Well, it's difficult to say, sensei. I guess it depends..."  
"On what?" Kakashi asked gently as he smiled at the blond.  
"Are you going to abandon us like that again?"  
Kakashi grew serious. "No, I wanted to know who they were targeting. I would have intervened if it looked like it was going wrong."  
Tsuna nodded. "Then I guess it depends on what Tazuna-san can tell us about the situation. We still don't really know what awaits us."  
With that the shinobi turned back towards the poor bridge builder, who nervously took a step back.  
-o-o-o-  
"Get down!" Kakashi yelled at his students as he tackled Tazuna to the ground.  
Tsuna had acted without thinking and he wasn't sure if he had responded to his sensei or his instincts.  
Something flew over them. A huge sword lodged itself in a tree. A strangely clothed shinobi was standing on top of it.  
“Well, well, if it isn’t the Hidden Mist’s missing-nin Momochi Zabuza.” Commented Kakashi lazily. “Everyone get back, this one is on a whole new level.”  
Tsuna took a step back towards their client.   
“It will be a little tough, unless I use this…” started Kakashi as he lifted his headband from over his left eye.  
“You must be Sharingan Kakashi.” Stated the nin as he looked down on them. “Sorry but that old man is mine.”  
Sasuke startled.  
“Surround and protect Tazuna. Do not enter the fight. That‘s the teamwork in this situation.” Kakashi commanded.  
What followed was… Well it started as an awesome fight. Zabuza had used a jutsu to summon thick mist and both him and Kakashi had shown a masterful control and use of clone jutsu. After that, however, Kakashi had easily gotten caught in Zabuza’s water prison.   
Zabuza created another water clone which he send after the genin.   
“Hehe, wearing forehead protectors and acting like real ninja.” sneered the clone. “But you know what? A real ninja is someone who survived numerous brushes with death. Basically, once you’re good enough to be listed in my books, then you can start calling yourself a ninja. You guys shouldn’t be referred to as ninja.”   
He disappeared, only to appear again before Sakura, kicking the girl harshly in the face.  
“Sakura!” Tsuna ran towards the girl to help her back up. The clone had kicked her in the face. Her nose was clearly broken and bleeding all over the place. He could already see the beginning of bruises forming around her eyes and cheeks.   
“You guys!” Kakashi screamed with an undertone of panic in his voice. “Take Tazuna and run away! You have no chance of beating him! As long as he’s keeping me trapped in this prison he can’t move! The water clone cannot go very far from his real body. Just run away now!”  
Tsuna grit his teeth.  
“Like I’ll let you.” Sneered the clone. He rushed towards Sakura again. The girl screamed in terror and flinched away from him.  
“I won’t let you lay a hand on her.”   
She blinked in shock. “Naru-to?”  
Tsuna had intercepted the clone. He had grabbed the man’s fist mid-strike. The clone jumped back in shock. Flames burned brightly on Tsuna’s forehead and hands.   
His team-mates watched him with wide eyes.   
The man sneered. “Those flames are a fancy trick, kid, but that’s all they are.”  
“We’ll see.” He rushed towards the clone, who didn’t try to dodge but raised his sword to the boy.  
Tsuna however, could remember all the sparring sessions he had with Takashi and even Squalo, and dodged without a problem, grabbed the clone's arms and flared his flames brightly, soaking the clone in Sky flames.  
The clone screamed, but unlike in his previous life, it didn’t get turned to stone. It did dissolved back into water.   
He studied the puddle of water briefly. Sensing no danger or chakra he turned back to the original.  
“Would you mind releasing our sensei? I’ve grown quite attached to him.” Tsuna’s eyes were blazing orange as he stared at the real Zabuza.   
**TBC**.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to leave it here, but I couldn’t help it XD Please don’t shoot me!  
> Please review and let me know what you guys think!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn! I just wish I did.  
> Beta: the lovely Midnight-Kitsune11. Thank you for all your hard work. :-)  
> AN: I know it's been way to long since I updated (any of my stories really…) but I'm having some major trouble getting motivated to write. It's been almost a year, but this whole Wave Arc has been giving me big trouble. I have written at least 3 different versions of it before I found one that satisfied me! I have also trouble writing fight scenes so I hope you like what I made of it ;-) I apologize for the long wait.

_Last time :_  
 _Tsuna however, could remember all the sparring sessions he had with Takashi and even Squalo, and dodged without a problem, grabbed the clone's arms and flared his flames brightly, soaking the clone in Sky flames._  
 _The clone screamed, but unlike in his previous life, it didn't get turned to stone. It did dissolved back into water._  
 _He studied the puddle of water briefly. Sensing no danger or chakra he turned back to the original._  
 _"Would you mind releasing our sensei? I've grown quite attached to him." Tsuna's eyes were blazing orange as he stared at the real Zabuza_.  
 **Chapter 6: Wave Arc (part 1)**  
"Hm, cheeky brat." Grunted the Mist nin, annoyed.  
"Ninpo: Kirigakure no jutsu."  
A thick mist once again appeared, obscuring their vision.  
Tsuna jumped back towards their client. He nodded towards his team-mates, who had done the same thing. Sasuke looked determined, if a bit unnerved. Sakura looked scared out of her mind, her face still covered in blood and bruises.  
Not being able to see anyone, Tsuna closed his eyes and completely opened up his other senses in the hope of figuring what was happening.  
He moved without realizing. Zabuza bust out of the mist, sword thrust forward. Tsuna managed to push aside Tzuna and Sakura, but didn't manage to dodge quickly enough. He went down, biting his lips in pain and clutching his side.  
Sasuke reacted quickly. "Katon: Gokakuju no jutsu!" A huge fireball hit the enemy and Zabuza dissolved into water once again.  
Tsuna trembled as he got up and resumed formation.  
A few moments nothing happened.  
“Heh,” Zabuza smirked. “Not bad, brats.”  
Tsuna thought quietly - they needed to continue fighting now, no stalling allowed. Who knew how much time their sensei had before he drowned?  
Tsuna knew he could use his flames to fly, but he hadn’t tested that technique yet in this life. Reborn would find a way to kill him over different dimensions if he thought to try it out now. Never try out new techniques on the battle field. They could save your life, but they could also get you killed.  
Sasuke stood closer to the edge of the lake.   
They made eye contact and nodded at each other. Tsuna ran towards his team-mate, who grabbed him and launched him at the missing nin. Somehow Sasuke had known what he wanted him to do without them having to talk it though. Maybe this team would work out fine in the end.  
When he got within range, he tried to punch the man hard in the face.  
Zabuza hit him in the head before he could land the hit and Tsuna's eyes closed as pain erupted in his head. If his arm had been a few inches longer he would have succeed. Still, his flames should have done some damage… He felt himself fall, but before he could reach the water he was gently grabbed. Someone held him close, standing on the water, still within reach of Zabuza and Kakashi.  
It was quiet around him as if someone had hit the pause button. A calloused hand gently cradled his face and lifted it.   
“Naruto!” Yelled their sensei in a panic.   
Dazed, he opened his eyes.   
He gasped and tried to push the man away.   
“Stop squirming, brat.” Grunted a new Zabuza clone.   
Both the clone and the original eyed him strangely.  
The man gently flickered his fingers through the flames on Tsuna’s forehead.   
Tsuna’s eyes widened. The Kiri ninja didn’t get burned. What? Could this mean…?  
“Huh.” Breathed the original. “Who would have thought…”  
“Zabuza!! Your fight is with me! Leave my students alone!!” yelled Kakashi furious.  
Zabuza snorted. “This fight is over, Hatake. I have no reason to fight you anymore.”  
The silence that fell at that statement could almost be heard.  
“W-what?!” Sakura screamed hysterically through her broken nose.  
Kakashi sounded stunned. “What is the meaning of this?”  
The clone who held Tsuna flickered briefly. Tsuna was gently hoisted up and cradled bridal style in the missing nin’s arms.   
Tsuna hissed as the wound on his stomach was jolted. The adrenaline was fading fast and he tried desperately to maintain his flames now that the exhaustion threatened to overwhelm him.   
He was still bleeding.  
“Damn it.” Cursed Zabuza as he saw the blood. “Haku!!”   
Another ninja appeared a few feet away from them, but Tsuna wasn’t paying much attention.  
“Now, Hatake, I’m going to let you free, you’ll behave and we’ll get your student somewhere safe to get treated. You know of a place…”  
Tsuna didn’t hear the rest. His dying will mode finally left him and he immediately fell unconscious.  
xx  
When Tsuna woke up, his whole body felt sore. He didn't even need to open his eyes to know he had overdone it… Training with Lee was one thing, and sure, it helped with his taijutsu, but he hadn't kept his flames active this long yet. Not in his new body and certainly not in a real fight.  
He opened his eyes. He was laying on a futon in what looked like an empty room.  
"How are you feeling, dobe?" asked Sasuke next to him.  
Tsuna shifted, trying to see his team-mate, only to groan loudly from the pain in his abdomen.  
"Stay still, I'll get the others."  
Tsuna didn't hear him leave.  
"Naruto?" asked Sakura hesitantly as she entered the room. Kakashi and Sasuke followed her.  
He opened his eyes again and tried to smile at the girl. "Good morning."  
"Afternoon, actually." Smiled Kakashi as he sat down next to them. "How are you feeling?"  
They sat around him.  
"Like someone tried to cut me in half." Tsuna tried to joke.  
"You've been unconscious for two days." Sakura bit her lip. "We were worried."  
"Giving enough time, you'll make a full recovery. So no worries." Smiled Kakashi again.  
Tsuna sighed in relief. "That's good."  
Sakura held a cup with a straw at his lips. "Thirsty? I've brought you some water."  
Tsuna carefully sipped a few times. "Thanks."  
He studied his team for a few second. Sakura’s nose seemed completely fine, so…  
“What happened? Where is Zabuza?”  
“Ah,” started Kakashi with a sigh. The man scratched his gravity-defying hair. “Good question. I have no idea.”  
“What?”   
Sasuke rolled his eyes at the silver-haired man. “Zabuza stopped the fight suddenly. He hasn’t explained why.”  
Sakura nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, he had an apprentice hidden away. Haku healed my face! After he helped you of course. See!” she angled her face closer so he could see.  
Tsuna sweat dropped. “That doesn’t really explain anything…”  
Sasuke grunted. “Zabuza said he’d explain once you woke up.”  
This was like pulling teeth… “Yes, and where is he now then?”  
Kakashi smiled at him. “Dealing with Gatou.”  
Tsuna needed a second to register that. “Why?”  
“No idea.” Kakashi smiled happily.  
“And you just let him?” Tsuna asked incredulously.   
Kakashi’s eyes narrowed a bit and lost their laughter. “One of my clones is with him, and his apprentice is under surveillance in this house. I’m not that careless, Naruto.”  
“It is very confusing, sensei.” Admitted Sakura. “He attacked us, threatened our client and tried to kill us and then suddenly he’s saying he’ll kill Gatou because he doesn’t want to hurt Naruto. It’s just strange.”  
“I’ll explain it now if you want.” Zabuza entered the room, a younger man following behind him.  
Tsuna turned around and had to swallow a shriek. The man was covered in blood.   
Kakashi didn’t seem surprised to see them but Sasuke and Sakura were startled.  
Zabuza sat down at the foot end of the bed/futon and Haku (the young man who Naruto assumed was Haku) stood behind him. The younger of the two smiled at Naruto.  
“How are you feeling, brat?”  
“Sore.” Tsuna watched the two with wide eyes.  
“Good. You’re on the mend but it’ll take a while.” The man nodded. “Now then, little Uzumaki prince, how did you end up in Konoha?”  
“What?” Tsuna asked stunned.   
“Prince?” Kakashi interrupted sharply.  
Zabuza shrugged, while he looked Tsuna straight in the eyes. “Of course. It took me a while to recognize it, but those flames of yours? Something like those hasn’t been seen since the fall of Uzushiogakure in the Second shinobi war. What do you know about them?”  
“N-not much.” Tsuna stuttered, feeling uncomfortable with the lie.  
“Are they a bloodline?” asked Sasuke suddenly interested.   
“Yeah, and why didn’t you tell us you could use something like that, Naruto?” asked Sakura, reproachful.  
“It’s clan business, girl.” Said Zabuza with a sneer. “If he doesn’t want you to know, he’s not obliged to tell you anything.”  
“Clan? What clan? Naruto is an orphan.” Replied the girl indignantly.   
Sakura had never been good at being denied knowledge.  
“What clan?” asked Zabuza stunned. He turned towards Kakashi. “They don’t know? What do they teach you these days.”   
Kakashi frowned and turned towards his students. “Didn’t you learn about Uzushiogakure at the Academy?”  
The three genin shook their heads. Kakashi sighed, looking troubled. “I’ll have to mention this to the Hokage. Uzushiogakure was a hidden village in the Land of Whirlpools. Its ninja were renowned for their fūinjutsu to the point that it led to its destruction in the Second great war. The Uzumaki clan was the founding clan of the village, like the Senju and Uchiha are for Konoha.”  
“Really?” asked Sakura with wide eyes.  
“Of course. Our Shodaime Hokage was married to an Uzumaki princess after all.”  
“I have a clan? Family?” Tsuna asked in a small voice.  
Kakashi’s eyes softened. “Of course.”  
“Most are dead. There weren’t any known survivors when the village fell,” Zabuza commented, “and yet here you are.”  
“Here I am.” Repeated Tsuna, in awe.  
“Alright but how did you know Naruto is an Uzumaki?” asked Sasuke with narrowed eyes.  
“The flames.” Shrugged the man again. “My sensei had them as well. In another colour mind you.”  
“You were trained by an Uzumaki?” asked Tsuna feeling light-headed.  
“No way. No Uzumaki would ever step foot in Kiri.” The man snorted.  
“So it’s not a bloodline?” asked Sasuke sharply.  
Zabuza scratched his head with a sigh. Haku giggled behind him. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.”   
Haku wasn’t fazed by Zabuza’s gruff attitude.  
“Do you want me to explain, kid?”  
Tsuna tilted his head.  
“To your teammates?”  
Tsuna nodded. Anything to help him through a disastrous explanation of his flames. He had no idea how he could explain it without mentioning his past life.   
“It’s fine.” His team-mates seemed pleased with his answer.  
“Now, I don’t know the details. My sensei only briefly explained it after all. Everyone has flames.”  
“What?”   
“No, let me finish my explanation first.” Sakura was cut off by the gruff man. “Every human has flames. You can compare it to chakra, everyone has it, but not everyone can use it. Chakra is easier to access, with the right training everyone could learn how to use it. Flames are more complicated. You can compare it to a bloodline in the sense that special circumstances are needed for them to activate. From what I understand there are different types of flames. Each type has it’s unique colour and characteristics.”   
“What circumstances are needed?” asked Kakashi intrigued.  
“There are two possible ways, each as unlikely to happen as the other. It could be activated the way other bloodlines get activated, under the right circumstances, most likely while cornered or almost dying in battle. Most people who try this method die, so I wouldn’t recommend it.” The man shrugged again.  
Tsuna blinked. That made sense. In his old world the total percentage of the human population that could use flames was about 5%, if he correctly recalled what Reborn had told him. Also battle situations weren’t required to activate flames for the first time. Your determination, or dying will as Reborn had called it, had to be strong enough to break them free. Simply not wanting to die wasn’t enough… If it was, Reborn never would have had to use those special bullets in the beginning of his training as Vongola boss.  
“And the other way?” asked Sasuke eagerly.  
“It’s easier the other way.” Zabuza nodded. “But the chances of succeeding are about as high as the first method.”  
Sasuke deflated.   
“It’s also more time consuming. One of those types of flames are different from the others in the way that they attract the otters to themselves.” Zabuza struck a thinking pose. “I believe they were called Sky flames. People with those flames ‘attract’, for lack of a better word, people with the other types of flames and form a bond with them. This bond makes it possible for those others to activate their own flames but it’s still not guaranteed.”  
“What kind of bond?” asked Kakashi curiously.  
Zabuza shrugged. “That depends on the individuals, I think.”  
“Family.” Said Tsuna, joining the conversation for the first time since the start of the explanation.  
Zabuza raised an eyebrow. “Really now? I can live with that.”  
Tsuna blinked.   
“What do you mean by that?” Kakashi glared at the man.  
Zabuza ignored him and didn’t break the eye contact he had with Tsuna. “During the fight, I don’t think you were consciously doing it, but you reached out to me.”   
He placed one of hands on his chest. “I can feel it, the bond and your flames.” The man grinned arrogantly.  
His face turned deathly pale as Tsuna gasped in shock.  
 **TBC**.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Who saw that coming? ;-)  
> Rant: Alright, so to be honest, I never liked the canon scene/fight between Zabuza and Kakashi. They are both supposed to be elite jounin, the best of the best (I mean, Kakashi only sees the guy and immediately reveals his sharingan…) and those fights looked like jokes. I mean a couple of fresh out of the Academy genin, not mentioning all the other problems they have, can keep up with them? Seriously? So, I had to change the whole wave Arc ;-) Don't kill me! I hope you guys will enjoy it!


	7. Wave Arc (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn! I just wish I did.
> 
> Beta: the lovely Midnight-Kitsune11. Thank you for all your hard work. :-)
> 
> Pairing: At this time there is NO pairing for this fic! People keep asking me who I'm going to pair Tsuna with, but I don't plan to pair him up with anyone at this point in time. There might be some hints, but at present that's just the attraction of Tsuna's Sky flames at work.
> 
> AN: Alright, here's a new update for you all. Now, a lot of people keep pointing out that I'm bashing the members of Team 7... I'm not! (or at least I'm not trying to) Team 7 was a crappy team in the beginning. The mission in Wave was a first step in them growing closer in canon. Sakura was a creepy fangirl, Sasuke was possessed with revenge, and Kakashi couldn't seem to care less about his students. They all had their reasons for their behavior, even Naruto but they all just clashed in the beginning. So yes, until now I tried to show that in my story, they will start getting better... 
> 
> Enough ranting on my part, enjoy the chapter ;-)

Zabuza shrugged in a what-can-you-do way. "It's not something permanent. See it as a chance, an opportunity for a bond to grow."

"What does that mean? Practically, I mean." Asked Tsuna confused.

"That depends. Hatake said you're required to stay here until that bridge is build, so we have time to think and talk. We'll see. There is no hurry. You get better first."

The man awkwardly patted Tsuna's knee.

"So wait, Naruto has these special flames?" asked Sasuke eagerly.

Tsuna frowned at the boy.

"Sure, those orange flames you saw, those are Sky flames." Zabuza warily eyed the boy.

"Why Sky flames? It seems like a strange name… Why aren't they blue then?" interrupted Sakura them.

"The name has nothing to do with the color, little girl." Scowled Zabuza.

Sakura flinched away from the missing nin. The man was scary after all.

She straightened, took a deep breath and spoke shakily. "I just want to understand."

Tsuna admired her guts. This mission seemed to be a real wake-up call for the girl and he was thankful she didn't seem to immediately relapse in her fan girl personality.

"You don't have to understand." replied Kakashi gently. "If what Zabuza said is true then this is all Uzumaki clan business."

She bit her lip, but didn't reply.

"You involved us in all this." Sasuke frowned, surprisingly supporting the girl. "It's only natural we ask questions."

"Maybe, but you don't want people to stick their noses into Uchiha clan business do you?" asked Kakashi. "We are a team, so some knowledge is required, but we don't need to know all the details."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his teacher. "Speaking of Uchiha clan business, I think we need to have a conversation about that eye of yours, sensei."

"Of course we will, but-"

"Why?" muttered Tsuna softly.

They all turned back to look at him, but Tsuna was lost in thought.

"Why would my flames reach out to you? Why not anyone else? I-" he stopped talking abruptly.

Zabuza sighed. "No idea. I only know a little bit because of my old sensei and he wasn't very forthcoming with the information." he shrugged. "What makes Sky's reach out to some people and not to others? Why me and not your sensei or someone else in your team? Why someone who was supposed to be your enemy?"

Tsuna frowned. He tried to remember if Reborn had ever mentioned anything about that. The at-the-time-baby had chosen Tsuna's family almost entirely by himself. Tsuna never had anything to say about that, but the people he had chosen... In the end, both Tsuna and his elements had gained something by becoming family. They had all been lonely, one way or another. Tsuna had never had any (real) friends, same with Hayato and Takashi. Kyoya hadn't wanted any friends, but seemed a bit more laid back after becoming a guardian. Or at least as laid back as Kyoya could be... He never would be a fan of crowds, but he had grown very protective of their family... Or just of Tsuna, if he had to be honest. Ryohei had needed some people to understand and treat him like he was normal, not some sort of weirdo. Same for Lambo, who just wanted someone to love him for who he was. Chrome and even Mukuro had been lonely, the older one lashing out after all the injustice done to both of them.

So why did his flames reach out to Zabuza. Why not someone else?

He thought about his precious people. The only one in this lifetime he could tentatively call a friend was Lee. They had been training together for a while now... Lee reminded Tsuna strongly of Ryohei, and he suspected, if the boy had flames, he would be a Sun. But Lee was a shinobi without access to his chakra. Would that mean he couldn't access his flames as well, or just the opposite? Were flames and chakra connected somehow? Seeing his own trouble with chakra, maybe it would be easier for Lee to bond and also access his flame...

Team 9 maybe? Lee's team had been nice to him and he had joined them for training a few times, but he couldn't say he was very comfortable with them yet. And Neji's behavior had made Tsuna a bit uncomfortable. Come to think of it... It made more sense now. If everyone did indeed have flames in this world, then Neji was most likely 'suffering' from Sky attraction. Sky flames were known to try and attract at least a full set of guardians. A Sky without guardians or without a complete set was vulnerable. They thrived on the bonds with their family and Tsuna was all alone, or he had been while in Konoha.

He glanced at Zabuza and saw the man studying him with raised eyebrows.

He turned away and studied his team. Logically they were top candidates as guardians, but Tsuna knew that his flames would never reach out to them—at least not now, with the team dynamics as they were.

Tsuna had always wanted to be Sasuke's friend. Mostly because the boy was also alone and Tsuna was selfish that way. Huh, maybe even then his intuition had acted up... But the Uchiha was so standoffish, so arrogant and had always brushed him off as if he was invisible. The only time the raven had treated him decently had been during the joint training session with team 9.

Sakura had never paid him any attention. She had been so focused on Sasuke all the time that she had been very hurtful. He wasn't sure she had realized it, but he didn't think he'd feel very comfortable around her for a while...

He winced as he looked at Kakashi. The man had been doing his very best to avoid spending any more time with him than was necessary. It hurt. It still did. Tsuna had reached out to the man, wanted to ask him for training, for anything... And maybe Tsuna had reached out to bond to the man, but he wouldn't be able to consider Kakashi family after that. The constant rejection had hurt.

Who did that leave?

Iruka-nii-san! Tsuna's eyes widened. Ever since he had unlocked his flames, they had been growing a lot closer. He realized now that he unconsciously relaxed around the older man, trusting him to keep him from harm in a village that hated his guts.

Tsuna startled as he realized he was eleven! In his past live he had been fifteen, maybe sixteen when he became flame-active. As a teenager he didn't need any adults as his guardians. He bit his lips. He wouldn't have been comfortable with an adult as a guardian in his previous life. Even now, the idea of a teenager, or an eleven year old, being the boss of adults made him recoil. The difference now however was that Tsuna didn't have a mom to take care of him, to provide shelter and food. Uzumaki Naruto was all alone and, like every kid, he was reaching out to adults who could and would take care of him.

Iruka was a teacher, and a good one. He cared about kids, and more importantly he cared about Tsuna. Tsuna didn't care if that was selfish or not. With time, and if Tsuna allowed it, Iruka could be family, even a guardian if they both wished it.

Maybe Tsuna's flames had already tried to reach out.

He closed his eyes and concentrated. He felt his flames inside him. They felt weak, almost feeble—he really had overdone it earlier—but he could feel two other types of flames. They were barely there, and if he hadn't been looking for it, he never would have known.

Rain and Cloud flames.

The blue flames washed over him, relaxing him until he felt almost boneless. Iruka's face briefly flashed before his closed eyes. The man grinning as he teased a blushing Tsuna, like that day after graduation and the team announcements.

The cloud flames were violent, lashing out blindly around them. But they calmed down as soon as Tsuna focused on them, gently touching them with his own flames. They shivered and the blood lust seemed to diminish. They... there wasn't another word for, they seemed to bask in his attention, almost preening.

"Oh wow, didn't see that coming." A deep voice said from right next to him.

Tsuna opened his eyes almost lazily. Zabuza was sitting next to him, with Tsuna almost on his lap. He was leaning against the man, and couldn't bring himself to mind at all.

He felt overwhelmed by all this information and the realizations.

"Naruto?" asked Kakashi warily. "Everything all right there?"

Tsuna turned towards the man.

Kakashi was crouching, alert and watching Zabuza suspiciously.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Tsuna sighed and snuggled into the almost-hug the missing nin was giving him. Zabuza's arm tightened around his shoulders.

"Maybe we should leave them to rest." suggested Haku with a grin.

"I'd rather stick around, just to be safe." Kakashi replied coldly.

Tsuna eyed his teacher, who was almost glaring at the other adult in the room.

He felt comfortable like this, but how would this look to someone who wasn't flame-active and had no idea what was happening here?

"Is there something to eat?" he tried to break the tension.

Sakura stood up. "I'll go tell Tsunami-san you're awake. She made some soup for when you woke up." and with that she practically fled the room.

"Tsunami-san?"

"Tazuna's daughter." grunted Sasuke. "We're in his house. His grandson lives here as well. The little brat's named Inari."

"Sasuke." reprimanded Kakashi lightly.

"Hn." he grunted.

Tsuna blinked. Alright then... Good to know.

Kakashi turned towards the blond. "Do you think you're well enough to go downstairs to eat?"

Tsuna shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I'd like to stretch my legs." Slowly he untangled himself from Zabuza, resisting the urge to cling to the man like an octopus.

His sensei took Zabuza's place by his side and steadied him gently. The missing nin grunted as he was pushed away. Kakashi hadn't been subtle at all... Tsuna felt like sweat dropping, but was too happy with the sudden attention from his sensei.

Lunch was awkward. Tsunami-san greeted them all cheerfully and thanked Tsuna for his role in keeping her father safe.

Tsuna kept his head down, slowly sipping his chicken broth. Kakashi and Zabuza sat at either side of him and kept glaring at each other.

Sasuke eyed the spectacle and smirked with amusement dancing in his eyes at Tsuna. The little bastard was enjoying this.

"So..." he tried to break the tension. "What happens to our mission now?"

"We are contracted to stay until the bridge is build to protect Tazuna. A clone of mine is currently with him at the site. We shouldn't be here longer than a week now." replied Kakashi.

"What about that Gatou guy? Is he going to send more ninja?" Tsuna bit his lip in worry.

Zabuza's grin was terrifying. "Gatou won't be doing anything anymore." He placed a bloody scroll before Tsuna.

"What's that?" Tsuna asked, scared of what the answer would be...

"Gatou's head." The man smirked.

Tsuna gulped.

"We talked and had a... disagreement, so I killed him." The man shrugged, clearly not seeing anything wrong with that.

Wide blue eyes stared at the man from Kiri. Even with half his face masked by bandages Zabuza radiated pride, smugness and even amusement.

"Right." Tsuna nodded. "I don't think I want to know what happened."

Kakashi stood up. "Well I do. Let's go have this talk somewhere else." He smiled pleasantly at the other man, but everyone could feel the slight bit of killer intent he released. This wasn't optional.

Zabuza sighed. "They are shinobi, damnit, not babies."

With a brief glance at Tsuna, he left the room following their sensei.

Both Sakura and Sasuke immediately turned towards him.

"Ne, Naruto, can we ask you some more questions? About those flames..." started Sakura.

Tsuna blinked at them, momentarily stunned. He wasn't used to either of his team-mates paying him any attention, let alone both at the same time.

"Um... Sure?"

"Why didn't you say anything about them?" asked Sasuke harshly.

Tsuna frowned. "I'm sorry, but I don't think any of us have actually had a real conversation before. Why should I have told you?"

Sakura flinched, but Sasuke only stared at him angrily.

"We're a team." muttered the girl hesitantly.

Tsuna snorted angrily. "I stand by my point. Why should I start sharing secrets with two people who on an average day, either pretend I don't exist or insult me? You want me to start trusting you with stuff like that? Fine, but trust goes both ways."

Sasuke sighed but didn't avert his eyes from the blond. "That might be true, but we never lied or hid anything about our personal abilities. That could seriously endanger all of us on missions. If Zabuza hadn't stopped when he did, who knows what could have happened. That Haku guy was also still around and none of us knew he was there! You-"

"You fell unconscious, Naruto." Sakura interrupted gently. "Zabuza could have done anything to you. We didn't know what was wrong with you. Kakashi-sensei tried to apply first aid with a jutsu, but... You started having some sort of attack. You would only settle down when Zabuza took over... Our enemy!"

"I-" Tsuna stared at them both with stunned eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize."

"Didn't realize that we care?" Sasuke sneered.

"Yes." replied the blond honestly.

"Hn." the raven turned away.

They fell silent for a bit, everyone lost in their own thoughts.

"We're not much of a team, are we?" asked Sakura quietly. "I'm sorry, I was... I'm so stupid."

She hugged herself, tears glittering in her eyes.

Tsuna reached over to pat her arm. "There's no point in pointing fingers now. I think we can agree none of us have been the ideal team-mate..." He smiled at her. "But we can work on that."

She sniffled and looked at him from underneath her eyelashes. He smiled encouragingly. She hesitantly smiled back.

"Hn." Sasuke smirked at them.

Sakura rubbed her eyes. "So how long have you had those flames? I mean, how long have you been able to use them?"

"Not long, a few months before graduation." He replied.

Sasuke frowned at his. "What happened? From what Zabuza said it must have been something... bad."

"Euhm... I suppose it was. I don't want to talk about it, but um... Mizuki-sensei was involved."

They both frowned at him.

"Wasn't that around the time he disappeared from the Academy?"

"Didn't he hate you?"

They spoke at the same time, briefly exchanged a look, but quickly focused back on Tsuna.

He sweat dropped. "Yes. To both of those questions."

"Huh."

"Well, I never really like him anyway." shrugged Sakura in a clear show of support.

Sasuke smirked at the girl. "He was a moron."

Tsuna giggled. "Iruka-nii-san is way better."

Maybe they could make this work after all.

**TBC.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick question: What should happen next? After the Wave mission, should I immediately continue on with the Chuunin exams? Or should I have them do some more flame-exploration first?  
> Leave a comment on your way out, please! :D


	8. Journey to Uzushiogakure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for all your wonderful comments and reviews! They really helped with writing this chapter!  
> Also, for those who are curious, I based my version of Uzushiogakure on the descriptions I found on the narutoprofile . wikia . com page I found about it... I don't think it's canon, but I liked it a lot ^^'
> 
> Enjoy the chapter ;-)

After a much needed nap, Haku helped him back down the stairs. His team and Zabuza were sitting in the kitchen. The missing nin was currently having a glaring contest with Kakashi.

Tsuna cleared his throat, trying to defuse the tension.

Haku sat down next to him.

"Ne, I was wondering... Where is Uzushiogakure located?" Tsuna asked curiously.

He had been thinking about it ever since Zabuza had dropped the name. Something about that village... He wanted to see it, to know more about it.

He wasn't sure if it was his intuition acting up again or if he was imply curious.

Kakashi eyed his student carefully. "It's gone, Naruto. There isn't anything there anymore."

"There is still something left. It wasn't completely flattened." interjected Zabuza with a smirk in Kakashi's direction. "I could take you there, if that's what you want."

"No one is going anywhere, least of all with you." Kakashi glared at the man. "He's still recovering."

Haku leaned over towards Tsuna. "They are like two dogs fighting over bone." The boy giggled. "Or two fanboys fighting over their crush."

Tsuna turned bright red and looked away.

"Huh? Are you talking about those old ruins?" Tazuna interrupted them suddenly.

Everyone turned towards him. The old man was standing in the doorway, having just entered the room.

"You've seen it, Tazuna-san?" asked Tsuna suddenly excited again.

"Sure have. It's an island not far from here, just to the north. It'll take about a day by boat to get there."

"We'd be there much faster if we ran." shrugged Zabuza.

"Ran? On water?" asked Sakura interested, but slightly sceptical.

Haku nodded. "Of course, haven't you learned to walk on water yet?" He tilted his head, clearly curious.

She shook her head. "No way. Can you teach me?"

Sasuke turned towards them, studying the boy intently.

"Hmmm..." Haku grabbed his chin in thought. "Usually your teacher should be the one to..."

"Haven't you taught them yet, Hatake?" sneered Zabuza mockingly.

Kakashi glared at the man, but didn't reply.

Haku tuned the two supposedly mature men out and addressed the rookies. "Have you been practicing your tree walking?"

"Our what?" asked Tsuna confused.

The two missing nin turned blank looks towards Kakashi.

The man shrugged. "They only graduated a few weeks ago. This was supposed to be a C-rank mission."

The three more experienced ninja turned towards Tazuna. The man flinched and quickly left the room.

"Tch." muttered Zabuza angrily. "Nothing as bad as a client who's trying to save money on missions. Fucking idiots."

"Indeed." Kakashi sighed. "I was going to start them on tree walking once we finished this mission."

"You realized this could have been a disastrous mission, right? If the kid's bloodline hadn't played up, I wouldn't have stopped. People would have died. I had you trapped, and your kids would have paid the price." Zabuza addressed Kakashi seriously.

"I realize." Kakashi grit out.

Tsuna watched the two men. The tension in the room was rising...

Again...

"Can we go there? To Uzu?" he redirected the conversation.

Kakashi blinked at him, before his only visible eye softened. "Do you want to go?"

Tsuna nodded with certainty. "I want to see it. And... I feel like I need to go there."

"You feel...?"

"Yes, it's difficult to explain..." He trailed off. "But I need to at least understand more about this bloodline."

And maybe he would finally have a valid reason for all his knowledge about flames. He had gotten lucky the day he first activated them. The Hokage and Iruka-nii-san had believed him to be in shock and hadn't asked too many questions.

Now that his flames were starting to reach other people, they wouldn't hold back. especially not with a missing nin like Zabuza involved.

He cringed as he imagined Zabuza entering Konoha. Like he would simply be allowed to enter and stay there...

Assuming the man wanted to stay in Konoha...

Clouds were... peculiar people, to say the least. They did what they wanted and refused to be tied down. Not that people hadn't been stupid enough to try.

Tsuna had never tried to cage in Kyouya and he wouldn't start now with another Cloud.

"It's not far, right?" Sasuke interrupted suddenly. "One or two days more won't make a difference, so why not?"

Tsuna shot him a thankful look. The raven smirked at him.

"That's right." agreed Sakura. "Besides, we're still stuck here for a few days before our mission is done."

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck and sighed loudly. "You guys... It's really not that simple. We can't just take a side trip without the Hokage's permission."

Zabuza stood up and went to stand behind Tsuna. "If it makes it easier on you I can always kidnap this kid. That way you'd have to follow me."

He smirked wildly at their teacher, grabbed the little blond, threw him over his shoulder and ran out of the house.

"HIEE!" shrieked Tsuna in surprise.

Zabuza stopped in surprise just outside the house and rubbed his ears. "You've got a serious pair of lungs on you kid." he grumbled.

"Put me DOWN!" Tsuna tried to wiggle free.

Team 7 and Haku had followed after them.

"Please stop manhandling my student." Kakashi was leaking killer intent.

Zabuza shrugged and did as told. "Arrange it then. The kid wants to go."

Tsuna inched away from the man. The new bond made him reluctant to be far from the man, but he really didn't feel like being carried anywhere like that.

"You're a drama queen." Kakashi rolled his eyes as he placed a hand on Tsuna's shoulder.

The blond looked up at his sensei.

"I'll write the Hokage and we'll see what he'll say. In the meantime I could start teaching you all tree walking and maybe even water walking... If you three are interested of course." Kakashi smiled at them.

Sakura and Tsuna smiled wildly and Sasuke smirked.

Haku giggled as Zabuza threw a nasty glare at the white haired man.

-o-o-

Tree walking was awesome! Or at least it looked like it... Kakashi was smiling at them, hanging upside down from a tree branch.

Tsuna watched him with wide eyes. While in hyper-dying-will mode he could briefly defy gravity by crouching on walls or ceilings but nothing like this.

"Now, while tree walking is considered a simple chakra exercise, it is a basic technique that comes in handy in all kinds of situations. By applying chakra to certain parts of your body, you learn to regulate specific amounts of chakra. Tree walking is the next step of the leaf sticking exercise you learned at the Academy and water walking is the step after this. For tree walking, you apply chakra to your feet to help you stick to the bark of the tree." Kakashi explained.

The three genin listened attentively.

"The tricky part of this exercise is knowing and getting used to the right amount of chakra necessary for this task. The only way to do this is to practice."

Upside down he threw them each a kunai, which landed before their feet.

"Some people feel more comfortable running up the tree and seeing how far they can go. Others like to go a bit slower. To each their own." He shrugged. "Just know that if you use too much chakra you'll be blasted off, use too little and you won't stick to the bark.'

Sasuke smirked at his team-mates and ran towards the tree. Sakura giggled and followed him.

Sasuke was barely able to take three steps up the tree before he blasted himself back.

Sakura made it up to the first branch, but she ran like she was stepping on a slippery floor.

Tsuna winced. Yeah, no way was he going to try that!

"Naruto? Aren't you going to try?" Asked Kakashi with a frown.

He laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. "I have enough trouble accessing my chakra as it is. I think I'll take my time with this."

Kakashi tilted his head in contemplation. "Show me."

Tsuna fidgeted nervously. He went and stood before a tree. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and tried to focus some chakra in the palm of his hand.

It took a while before he could feel his chakra respond. Cautiously he placed his hand on the bark of the tree.

He lifted it again without effort.

Clearly it didn't stick.

Kakashi jumped down. "Come here and try to do the same thing, but against my hand." he held his hand towards Tsuna, almost as if waiting for a high five.

Tsuna did as asked.

"Hmmm..." His sensei assumed a thinking pose. "You'll need lots of practice. Molding chakra needs to become an automatic response - something you don't need to think about. Such a delay can be deadly. Next, it's not enough to just focus your chakra to a certain part of your body. You need it to actually do something. You gather your chakra correctly, but it's just sitting there."

His sensei gave him a serious look. "You'll need to focus on this for your training."

Tsuna frowned in frustration. To be honest, with the ability to use his flames, he had neglected practicing with his chakra. He had hoped to train his body up to the level he could start practicing his old techniques.

It seemed like Zero Point Breakthrough (both First and the Revised edition) would have to wait a little longer...

-o-o-

Training and running up trees took up most of his free time the following days. Sasuke turned out to be a loyal companion during this time.

Both were steadily getting better.

Sakura had completed the training after two days. Kakashi had sat his three students down and explained that, while Sakura had mastered the technique, her chakra reserves were small so she had an easier time with control in general. She needed more of a challenge to help her increase her reserves. He'd started her on water walking the next day.

The evening before the day the bridge would official be finished, team 7 and the two missing nin were lounging on the porch, Kakashi was reading and giggling in his book and the three genin were merrily enjoying a few seconds of peace. Zabuza sat with his apprentice a bit further away, sharpening his sword.

Tsuna sighed contently. Finally some peace and quiet. Even Kakashi and Zabuza—or as he corrected himself mentally, especially Kakashi and Zabuza—were quiet. The two supposed adults of the group had had been fighting and bickering almost non-stop the last few days.

His luck never could last. A small blur ran out from under the cover of the forest and ran towards them.

They all tensed, and Zabuza was already on his feet readying his sword when Kakashi signaled them.

A small pug stopped before their sensei. It was wearing a blue vest... And a Konoha forehead protector?

Tsuna watched with wide eyes.

"Yo, Kakashi."

"Good evening, Pakkun." the man smiled at the small dog. "Did you bring it?"

The dog huffed. "Of course. Here."

A scroll appeared... from somewhere, and Tsuna wasn't sure he wanted to know from where, and the dog handed it to their sensei. Kakashi opened it and started reading.

Zabuza and Haku approached them. Haku crouched before the dog.

"Are you a summon? Or a partner ninken?" asked the boy.

"He's one of my summons." Kakashi smiled at them all. "Team, meet Pakkun."

"Yo!" the dog raised a paw at them.

"I-it's nice to meet you." stuttered Tsuna slightly. He had never been a fan of dogs.

Sakura giggled at the animal.

However Sasuke grew impatient. "Sensei, is that from the Hokage? Did we get permission to visit Uzushiogakure?"

Kakashi looked up and smiled at them. "Mah, mah, Sasuke-kun, patience is a virtue."

The genin glared at him.

"Hokage-sama is actually advising us to stay away a little longer. Apparently, my report about Naruto's bloodline has caused quite a bit of a stir. There's a lot of political stuff going on with both the civilian and the shinobi council. He's allowing us to go to give things time to calm down a bit."

The others sweat dropped. Zabuza frowned, but it was Sasuke who reacted first. "Why would they be involved in this in any way? While the shinobi council might be curious, neither they or the civilian council have any right to that information. This is clan business, and even team 7 business."

"Mah, it's a bit more complicated than that. It would be helpful if we managed to get some more information in Uzu to help explain the basics." Kakashi tried to reassure his students.

Tsuna bit his lip. "Is it clan business?"

They turned towards him.

"What do you mean?" asked Sakura confused.

Tsuna shrugged. "Can it be considered clan business if I'm the last one left?"

"Yes, they granted me that privilege." Sasuke smirked. "We can at least make them do the same for you."

"Why wouldn't they acknowledge the Uzumaki clan?" asked Haku with a frown. "If I remember correctly, your Shodaime Hokage was married to an Uzumaki, right?"

"Yes, but our civilian council has been known to try and meddle in shinobi affairs. Mah, let's not worry about it too much right now. I'll go talk to Tazuna to arrange our trip." He smiled at them.

"Finally," grunted Zabuza, "I'm getting sick and tired of sitting on my ass all day."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the shinobi. "I might just regret letting you come with us."

-o-o-

Tsuna was quiet as they got off the boat. It was halfway through the afternoon, two days after the Hokage's message, and Kakashi was talking to the captain of the small fisherman's boat Tazuna had arranged. Their departure from his house was quick and without much fanfare.

"He'll be back tomorrow, around midday to pick us up." Their sensei explained as he joined them.

Two of his genin nodded at him, but Tsuna only had eyes for the ruined city before him.

"Is this Uzu?" asked Sakura in a small voice.

It was a ruin. Buildings were completely or half demolished, the place was abandoned and trees and other plants were steadily growing to seemingly try and cover up as much as possible. As if they were trying to reclaim the parts of the island humans had occupied.

His intuition was screaming at him, so he took a first step...

And a second...

And another one...

Before he realized it, he had started running, up the hill and out of the small harbor where they had landed.

"Naruto!" Kakashi stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder. "There is no need to run off. We have plenty of time to explore."

Tsuna bit his lip anxiously.

"Come on, dobe. Take it easy." Sasuke gently bumped against him in silent support.

The blond tried to give his team-mate a smile but couldn't quiet manage it. The boy nodded once in understanding.

Sakura joined them, standing on his other side.

Kakashi smiled at them proudly.

"I believe this is only the port. Uzushiogakure should be further inland." observed Kakashi as they reached what seemed to be the edge of the small town. A road gently swayed in between the hills surrounding the port city.

They started running on the road. They ran in silence, the sight of the port still affecting them. It was only when they noticed the ruined buildings on the biggest hill, or rather mountain, before them that they realized that was Uzushiogakure.

"This was a small village," Haku observed what was left of the village before them. "but it must have been spectacular."

They stood before a huge gate, not unlike the ones at Konoha. Or at least what was left of them.

Zabuza grunted. "It was, especially compared with the other Hidden villages. I believe the Uzumaki clan was the only big clan that settled here."

"Where do you want to go first?" Kakashi asked the blond.

"That way." Tsuna didn't hesitate as he pointed up.

Self-assured, he lead them deeper into what once must have been a remarkable village. Uzu had been built to match the mountain, with a lot of tall buildings.

He didn't know where he was going but his intuition hadn't led him wrong yet.

"That symbol is everywhere." mused Sakura. "Isn't that what Konoha shinobi wear?"

Kakashi nodded. "Indeed, it's mostly worn on the chuunin vest. It's to honour and remember the alliance that once existed between Uzu and Konoha. They were our closest allies."

"You know," started Zabuza as he turned towards Tsuna, "if you ever get tired of Konoha, you can come back here and rebuild this place."

Tsuna blinked in astonishment. "What?"

"You're an Uzumaki. This village is your legacy. Once you have some bonds, you could come back, become Uzukage."

Tsuna bit his lip. Rebuilding these ruins did sound good, but becoming Uzukage? That gave him an immediate flashback to the mountains of paperwork he had to deal with as Decimo, and, while he had gotten used to all the responsibilities, like sending people out on missions, never knowing if they would come back, it wasn't something he felt like rushing back into.

"I think I'm a bit too young to think about something like that." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

They barely entered the main village as a voice called out to them.

"Who goes there!?"

They turned around, both Zabuza and Kakashi taking a step forward to stand before the younger ninja.

An old man, with a wrinkled face and snow white hair and beard approached them, sword drawn. The clothes he wore were old, but well taken care of.

"We mean no harm." Kakashi smiled innocently as he twirled a kunai.

The man narrowed his eyes at them. "This village was destroyed decades ago. There is nothing left here for you."

"Mah, mah," tried Kakashi to placate the man, "We just wanted to take a look around."

Feeling curious, Tsuna peeked around his sensei to take a good look at the man. There was something about him...

The man's eyes zeroed in on Tsuna and opened in shock as they stared at each other.

"After all this time..." the man lowered his sword.

Both Kakashi and Zabuza tensed, but the man didn't look away from Tsuna.

"Welcome home, little Sky."

**TBC.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in two weeks! I've outdone myself! xD
> 
> What do you think? ;) Reviews make me happy


	9. Finally some explanations...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who are curious, I based my version of Uzushiogakure on the descriptions I found on the narutoprofile . wikia . com page I found about it... I don't think its canon, but I liked it a lot ^^'
> 
> Also sorry about the OCs. Most people were expecting a KHR character to show up, but... No need to worry though, they won't be important after this Arc.
> 
> Thank you all for all your wonderful comments and reviews! The inspiration is fresh at the moment! I wrote this chapter in one day! Yay! XD I'm on fire!
> 
> Enjoy lovelies xxx

Zabuza started leaking killer intent. "What did you just call him?"

The man studied the missing nin briefly and gave a small smile.

"My name is Ryuji, I'm a Guardian of Uzushiogakure." He bowed lightly towards Tsuna.

Tsuna gulped. "I-I'm Uzumaki Naruto." He introduced himself from behind the two nin that continued to try and block him from the man.

Ryuji's eyes widened. "An Uzumaki? You don't have their colouring, but... I didn't think I'd ever get to see another Uzumaki Sky again." He looked nostalgic for a moment, with a far-off look in his eyes.

Suddenly his eyes widened and he paled dramatically. "We need to move. This way!"

He turned around and started making his way back where he came from.

Tsuna made to follow him, but Zabuza stopped him. "Why would we follow you anywhere?"

The man turned back towards them. "You people aren't the only intruders here. It won't take long before they notice you. We need to get out of sight."

Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly and motioned Zabuza to take the lead after the man, while he himself took the rear. That way they kept the younger kids in between them.

They entered one of the ruins. Tsuna frowned when they followed Ryuji into a small basement. It was dark, with barely any light to illuminate the room.

A gentle blue flame appeared. Tsuna watched with wide eyes as the man pressed his right hand to a piece of the wall, the blue flame lightning up one of his fingers. Was that a ring?

The portion of the wall on the left of his hand melted away. "Quickly, get inside."

They did as told, but Tsuna saw that both Kakashi and Zabuza kept a close eye on the man.

Ryuji followed them inside and the wall formed back behind them.

Lights sprang on as soon as it closed, illuminating the corridor they were standing in.

"That's a relief." he sighed. "Come. It's just a little further."

"What is this place?" asked Kakashi curious.

This place vaguely reminded Tsuna of the Vongola hideout they had stayed in during the adventure he had with his family while travailing ten years to the future. Only this place seemed darker and abandonment. Was Ryuji the only one here?

Ryuji turned back to answer, but he focused on Tsuna, almost ignoring the others. "This is one of the five hideouts of the village that survived the invasion. In here."

He led them into a room. Only to be hit in the face with... a teapot? Tsuna watched with wide eyes as the teapot shattered and the man clutched his face.

"Where have you been, you old goat?!" yelled an angry teenager that was standing at the end of the room in a small open kitchen. A tea set, or what was left of it now, sat innocently on the counter as the angry brunette clutched a tea cup in his hand.

"Aw, why did you do that?" whined Ryuji.

"You've been gone for hours! And why did you bring people here!?"

Ruyji entered the room and motioned Team 7 and the missing Kiri nin into the room.

Just like the hallway outside, this room gave a dark, gloomy vibe, but it was clean, and looked comfortable. There was a long table with at least enough seats for ten to fifteen people. There were shelves lined against the walls and a small kitchen at the farthest wall.

"They were visiting the ruins. I don't think they mean harm." Ryuji reassured the oldest teen in the room.

"No harm?! Those two are Kiri nin!" He pointed accusingly at Zabuza and Haku.

"Missing nin." Zabuza snarled as he glared at the teen.

Haku intervened before his master exploded. "Will one of you tell us what exactly is going on here?" he mostly addressed Ryuji with this.

"Of course, of course, come here, little Sky. Sit, sit, introductions first." He gently motioned to the chair at the end of the table, facing the teen in the kitchen. Thus placing the door at Tsuna's back.

"This is my student, Tenzen." The man introduced the angry teenager.

Tenzen glared at them. Tsuna sweat dropped. Hopefully Sasuke wouldn't be tempted to take lessons from the teen...

"Tenzen, this young man is Uzumaki Naruto. He's a Sky. An active Sky."

The teen blinked, anger momentarily forgotten. "A real Sky?"

"Ano..." interrupted Haku gently. "You said introductions?"

"Ah, right!" Ruyji turned back towards the rest of them, while Tenzen stared at Tsuna in astonishment. "Who are the rest of you?"

Kakashi smiled brightly as he introduced them all.

"What are Kiri shinobi doing here? Missing nin or not, especially in the company of Konoha shinobi?" asked Tenzen suspiciously.

Zabuza shrugged. "I'm only here for the kid." He placed a hand on Tsuna's shoulder, and the blond couldn't help but lean into it.

"Hmmm..." Ryuji watched them both with narrowed eyes. "I see, you've bonded?" he addressed Zabuza.

The missing nin nodded.

"But only just." Ryuji knew. "That bond can't be more than a few weeks old."

"You know about all that?" asked Sakura surprised. She slapped her hand over her mouth as they all turned towards her and blushed.

"It's never been a secret in this village." the man shrugged.

"Would you be willing to tell us more about those flames and bonds?" asked Kakashi business-like. "I'm afraid we never heard anything about it in Konoha."

Ryuji frowned, while Tenzen snorted in the background.

"Didn't your parents explain?" Ryuji made eye contact with Tsuna.

The blond blushed lightly from all the attention. "I'm an orphan. I've never known my parents." His heart hurt as he briefly thought about Nana. "I'm not even sure if I'm a real Uzumaki..."

"Tenzen, could you make us some tea?" the old man requested.

"I'm afraid we're out of teapots." sassed the teen.

"Then go find another one. Something tells me we're in for a long talk."

The teen grumbled but left the room, supposedly in search of a teapot.

"Now, where to start..."

Tsuna's team and the missing nin sat down around Tsuna. Sasuke sat on his right, with Zabuza on his left.

"You said Naruto is an active Sky. What does that mean?" asked Sakura as the man didn't immediately continue on.

"Everyone has flames, little kunoichi. Having an active flame, means you have access to them. It's much like chakra in that way. Everyone has chakra, some people just never learn to access it, like civilians."

"How would one make their flames active then?" asked Kakashi interested.

"That would depend. They're called flames, but the correct name is Dying Will flames."

"As in the will to die?" asked Sasuke with a disturbed frown.

"No, just the opposite." Ryuji smiled at the raven. "It's the will to keep on living while you're about to die. Mostly through all the regrets you have in that moment... Once you activate them, you can learn to gain access to them whenever you want. Accessing them for the first time is very tricky. Even when the village was thriving, a fool proof way was never found." Ryuji sighed. "Most people died trying. I think the village once managed to have seven flame active people at the same time, but that was in times of war, and two of those were civilians. That was the best they could manage."

Sakura gulped.

"I was one of them." A far of look entered his eyes. "The Uzukage, My Sky, decided shortly after to forbid those experiments."

"The Uzukage was a Sky?" asked Tsuna curiously.

Ryuji smiled fondly at the blond. "Always."

"So, you have flames? Active flames, I mean?" asked Sasuke.

"Indeed." he nodded. "You might have seen them. This hideout is protected. Only flame active people can access it."

"Those flames were blue..." started Kakashi, tilting his head.

Ryuji raised his right hand, showing off the simple silver ring with a blue stone. A second later a small bright blue flame danced above the stone. The flame itself reminded Tsuna more of water than actual flames, much like Takashi's had.

"That's different from Naruto's." remarked Sakura.

"Of course, his are Sky flames. I'm a Rain."

"Huh?"

"There are seven different-coloured Flames that are named after the seven phenomena in the sky: the Sky itself, Storm, Rain, Sun, Lightning, Cloud, and Mist. Each flame has a different colour and different characteristics. Take for example my Rain flames, their main quality is tranquillity. I can use them to weaken a target by robbing its strength and capacity of movement."

" _To become a blessed shower that settles conflict and washes everything away_." Tsuna muttered.

"Right." Beamed Ryuji.

"Can you choose which type of flames you get?" asked Haku curiously.

"No, that depends mostly on your personality. Tenzen, while not active, clearly has Storm flames." the man sweat dropped with a sheepish smile.

"What flames do I have?" asked Zabuza gruffly.

"No idea." admitted the man with a smile. "It's easy to tell when the flames are active, but before that, it's almost impossible."

Zabuza frowned.

Tsuna decided to speak up. "Cloud. You're a Cloud."

"Hohoo! You can feel the bond! Let me guess: sometimes you're doing things without actually knowing or thinking about it, almost unconsciously, like what you said about rain flames before."

Tsuna nodded.

Ryuji copied him with a pleased smile. "Definitely an Uzumaki then. That intuition of yours ran in the family."

"What does cloud mean?" asked Zabuza, wanting to know more.

" _To be the aloof, drifting Cloud that protects the Family from an independent standpoint, and whom nothing can ever bind."_

"Should you ever activate your flames, their special trait is Propagation." continued Ryuji after Tsuna finished. "That means you could use them for that involves making stuff bigger or multiply them, in short."

He stood up and went to search for something in some of the shelves. "I have here some scrolls for you, little Sky, with all the information you'll need to understand what is going on." He handed Tsuna a single scroll.

Tsuna gently held it.

"There are more inside. there's a special seal on this one. Only an Uzumaki Sky can open this, it's in your care now."

Tsuna nodded in understanding.

"Can you give us a summary than? At least about those bonds." asked Kakashi.

"Of course. A Sky represents Harmony. Sky users search for other elements, whether consciously or unconsciously. They are incomplete without each other and to separate a Sky from someone they claim as their own is suicidal. Breaking a bond is not recommended." Ryuji gave Kakashi a stern look.

The jounin didn't show any form of reaction.

"Skies can bond with multiple people, but they need at least one person for each flame type. One person per flame type is called a guardian. They have either the strongest flames or know their Sky the longest."

He turned back towards Tsuna with a worried frown. "Is Zabuza-san the only you bonded with until now? How old are you and how long have you been flame active?"

"There is one more, but he's in Konoha at the moment." admitted Tsuna softly, not looking his team-mates in the eye. "And I became active a few months ago. Something like that."

"Hmmm... You're taking your time. Skies are usually fast to gather guardians after activation. It leaves you vulnerable..." He trailed off.

They all stayed silent for a while, digesting all the information the old man had given them.

"Now where is that kid? How long could it take to find a simple teapot?" muttered the man.

Tenzen joined them a little later after Ryuji had already laid out some food for them.

It was while they were all eating that Tsuna spoke up again. "Can we go back to visit the village?"

Ryuji frowned. "It's not safe. Kiri shinobi still wander around, looking for Uzushiogakure's secrets. They're relentless."

"After all these decades?"

"Yes, after all the Uzukage's office is still sealed shut."

"Uzu was known as the Village of Longevity. They believe the secret to eternal live is hidden in there or something." Tenzen remarked with a snort.

"Ah, eternal youth, not eternal live." corrected Ryuji.

"Is there something like that?" asked Haku curious.

Ryuji shrugged. "Not that I know of. I'm not sure where the rumours came from."

"But that office is sealed up for a reason." Sasuke interjected.

"Probably. But until today I didn't have any hope of getting in to check." he turned towards Tsuna. "If you desire it, you could unlock it with your flames."

"No pressure, right?" smirked Tenzen.

"What is it?" asked Tsuna curiously.

"No idea." laughed the man.

They all sweat dropped.

"Seriously..." muttered Sasuke.

"The Uzukage's office. That's up the mountain right?" asked Tsuna.

"Yes, why do you ask, little Sky?" asked Ryuji confused.

"I just... ever since I stepped on this island, I..."

Ryuji sighed fondly. "Your intuition, yes? You'll learn to trust it in time, little Sky. I can take you there, if you want, but we'll have to be careful."

-o-o-

They made their way not much later through the hideout.

"How big is this place?" asked Sasuke curiously.

"Well, all five hideouts are connected. They are spread around the village, one east, south, west, north and in the centre, just under the Uzukage's offices. There is an entrance to those old offices in these tunnels."

"Why is this the first I hear about this?" muttered Tenzen angrily.

"The office is sealed off. It's not like you'd do anything with the information." reprimanded Ryuji gently.

The teen blushed and looked away.

"It's like a maze in here." complained Sakura half an hour later.

"We're almost there." Ryuji smiled at her. "It's in this corridor."

Tsuna took the lead, until they arrived at a stone door. It looked like it had once been made of wood... He leaned forward and knocked on the stone. Solid...

He recognized it, this was stone created through Sky flames. In the middle of the stone door, was an intricate seal array, carved in the stone.

"Feeding some flames to the array should be enough to unseal the office." explained Ryuji.

Tsuna hesitated. He really wanted to open it—there was something important inside, he just knew it—but on the other hand, something wasn't right... Something was going to go horribly wrong...

He briefly made eye contact with his sensei and also with Zabuza. Kakashi didn't show any reaction, but Zabuza narrowed his eyes, tensed and gripped his sword. Ready if something did happen.

Tsuna gave the man a thankful smile and entered Hyper Dying Will mode.

Both Ryuji and Tenzen made sounds of surprise.

Carefully, Tsuna placed his hand just above the middle of the array, which briefly glowed orange, before melting away. The door became wood again and Tsuna gently pushed it open.

His intuition wouldn't be stopped anymore. Trusting both Zabuza and Kakashi to keep him safe, he entered the room, immediately zeroed in on the desk and gently lifted the flat wooden box that was strategically placed in the middle.

Before he could open it however, he heard a commotion behind him. Turning around he caught a brief glimpse of Tenzen holding a bloodied kunai at Sakura's throat as the girl screeched.

She was covered in blood, but didn't seem hurt as the teen sneered at her. Behind them Ryuji's head rolled over the ground, having been violently separated from the rest of his body.

Tsuna watched with wide eyes as Tenzen focused on him. The teen opened his mouth, and Tsuna instinctively took a step back to avoid the spray of blood that erupted from the man as Zabuza cleaved him in two.

Luckily Kakashi had grabbed Sakura seconds before the swing.

"What the...?" muttered Tsuna stupefied.

Sasuke leapt away from the fight and landed next to Tsuna.

"Is everyone alright?" Haku asked all of them.

Sakura was crying. Kakashi was awkwardly trying to calm her down.

"Well... That was anti-climactic..." muttered Sasuke. "I had hoped for a bigger fight."

TBC.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone guess what's in the box? And yes, I introduced two OC's and I killed them in the same chapter ^^' I hope you didn't get attached... the fight at the end was quick, but it wasn't something the genin were meant to get involved with so... ^^'
> 
> Comment please!? Let me know what you think ;-)


	10. Uzu's treasure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn! I just wish I did.  
> Beta: the lovely Midnight-Kitsune11. Thank you for all your hard work. :-)  
> Pairing: At this time there is NO pairing for this fic! People keep asking me who I'm going to pair Tsuna with, but I don't plan to pair him up with anyone at this point in time. There might be some hints, but at present that's just the attraction of Tsuna's Sky flames at work. Some people tell me some of the Zabuza moments make them feel like this will be a Gay/Yaoi fic, but I leave that up to your own interpretation.  
> AN: Thank you all for all your wonderful comments and reviews! The inspiration is fresh at the moment! I wrote this chapter in one day! Yay! XD  
> Enjoy lovelies xxx

Zabuza took the two bodies outside to take care of them. Together with Haku he would take a look around and see if there was anyone else here. Kakashi was sealing away their heads.

Ryuji had mentioned Kiri shinobi, but... With what happened...

What had happened anyway? Why had Tenzen killed the older man? Was he after the box? How desperate did the man have to be to wait years for something that he might not ever get? As Ryuji had said, Skies were rare. There hadn't been any clue that one, if there still were any alive, would have come this way...

Tsuna bit his lip.

He hadn't really gotten to know the old man, but still... Having another flame active person around would have been nice.

"So they went through all that trouble for that little box?" asked Sasuke. "What's in it?"

Still in Hyper Dying Will mode, Tsuna carefully un-clenched his fingers from around the box. He wanted to open it as Kakashi called out to them.

"Keep that closed, Naruto. We'll deal with it later. Come here you two."

Tsuna approached his sensei with a nod.

Sakura was crying and their sensei was clearly feeling very awkward. He was kneeling next to her, gently patting her back.

Tsuna sighed in exasperation and shook his head at the man.

Kakashi smiled sheepishly.

Tsuna handed his sensei the box and placed his hand on Sakura's shoulder, gently turned her around and gave her a big hug. She desperately clutched at him, buried her face in his shoulder and cried.

Both Kakashi and Sasuke flanked them awkwardly, almost as if they were standing guard.

Tsuna couldn't help but feel uneasy in this situation. He had hugged Sakura to help the girl, to comfort her, and while his relationship with his team was improving, it wasn't... he wouldn't call them friends yet. To be honest, out of the three of them, if he really had to choose, he felt closest to Sasuke. Even if Sasuke had always brushed him off and ignored him... It was a work in progress...

Still, he felt antsy. He couldn't wait for Zabuza and Haku to get back. Having his cloud nearby would help soothe his nerves.

"Let's get back underground." said Kakashi as Zabuza and Haku entered the room again, almost as if summoned by Tsuna's thoughts.

"At the moment everything is calm, but I wouldn't hang around too long here." muttered Zabuza to their sensei. The Konoha shinobi nodded in agreement.

Haku approached Tsuna, holding open his arms. "Give her here, Naruto-kun. I'll take care of your team-mate."

Together they pried Sakura's fingers loose and Haku gently carried her back into the tunnels as Tsuna opened the door. He kept it open as everyone got in and released it. The stone door melted back into the wall. The array didn't appear again, but it seemed the hideouts were still safe.

Or as safe as they could be while the enemy had been inside...

They entered the room they had been in earlier. "Grab all our stuff. We're leaving immediately." Kakashi commanded.

He handed Tsuna back the wooden box and urged them on.

Tsuna wasn't sure how long it took them to run back out of the village and towards the port, but it seemed to pass in a flash.

As they reached the sea, Kakashi-sensei created a shadow clone, who disappeared into the ruins.

"He'll warn the captain tomorrow. Zabuza, you know the shortest road to the mainland from here?"

"Of course." grunted the man. "Come here, kid." He gestured towards Tsuna and knelt down.

Carefully Tsuna got onto the man’s back, while Kakashi did the same for Sasuke, who surprisingly didn't protest. Haku was still carrying Sakura.

Sakura might have been the only one of the genin who could water walk, even for a bit, but she clearly wasn't in any condition to do so.

Feeling tired, Tsuna finally stopped using his flames. This was the longest he had kept them activated in this life. With a sigh, he buried his face in Zabuza's broad back, careful with the sword and fell asleep.

-o-o-

Tsuna woke up when Zabuza gently put him down. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked around.

They were in a forest. Sasuke was setting up camp with Haku and Kakashi was talking to Sakura who, though still upset, seemed much calmer than before. She clearly had had time to wash and put on some other clothes.

Two tents had been set up and Sasuke was lighting a fire.

"Finally awake, brat?"

Tsuna cleared his throat. "Where are we?"

"Halfway between Wave and Konoha." answered the man.

Kakashi motioned everyone around it while Haku was busy plucking a few birds.

"We still have about two hours to go to Konoha. We could have made it there today, but we all need to calm down a bit and have a talk." Started their sensei. "Now, Naruto, I need you to be very honest with me. You," he motioned to Zabuza, "shut up for a second. I'll come back to you."

The man sneered.

"Naruto, have you had any time to think about all you learned today? Ryuji-san gave us a lot of information and with his sudden death... Are you alright?" Kakashi asked him sincerely.

Tsuna gulped but nodded. After all, Ryuji hadn't told him anything he secretly hadn't known yet, but Kakashi didn't and couldn't know that.

And while the violence in the Uzukage's office had taken him by surprise, he had been basking in Zabuza's presence for the last few hours. The close proximity of his Cloud had helped him calm down and relax.

"Alright, now about Zabuza. Do you want him to come to Konoha with us?"

Tsuna blinked in astonishment.

"Now wait just a sec-" started Zabuza.

"Shhh." Kakashi brought his finger to his lips towards the man. "Let Naruto talk first."

The missing nin twitched.

"NO! Nononono! I mean, of course I want him to come!" Tsuna turned towards the man, who watched his panicking Sky with wide eyes. "Yes, I want you to come and stay with me, but only if you want to! I would never make you do something you don't want to. I mean, I'd like you to come, but you don't have to come just for me and I-"

"Oi, calm down brat." Zabuza ruffled Tsuna's hair awkwardly. "You're rambling. I won't be making any long term arrangements, but for now, I'll be coming with you." He smirked at the boy.

Tsuna felt like a huge weight had lifted from his shoulders and he couldn't help but smile brightly at his Cloud.

Wait...

His Cloud?

Tsuna blinked.

Yes, his Cloud... Zabuza would never replace Kyoya, no one could ever replace his first family, but that didn't mean his family couldn't grow...

He looked up the man with a look of wonder in his eyes.

When had this happened? In Uzu? Or before, during training in Wave?

He shook his head as he saw Zabuza growing uncomfortable and turned back towards his sensei.

Kakashi watched them both attentively, and with narrowed eyes.

Tsuna felt himself bristle defensively. "Is there a problem, sensei?"

Kakashi eyed him. "No, after what Ruyji-san had told us, I suspected something like this." He admitted with a sigh. "Still, explaining this to the village won't be fun..."

"The only one who needs an explanation is the Hokage." interjected Sasuke. "The shinobi council might try something, but there isn't much they can do, with the approval of the Hokage and the support of two clans, right sensei?" Sasuke arched an eyebrow at the man.

"It's very nice of you to support your team-mate like that, Sasuke." replied Kakashi.

Sasuke's eyebrow rose some more, almost in challenge.

"And of course, seeing the situation, I will also support Naruto in this."

"Good, neither of us might have a seat on that council, but we are both the last of our clan." he turned towards Naruto. "Well, all three of us."

Tsuna smiled in gratitude.

"The biggest problem we'll have will not be explaining this bloodline, it'll be to make them understand why it is necessary to allow a missing nin from Kiri access to our village." sighed Kakashi softly.

Zabuza snorted. "I'll cooperate with your Hokage as long as his demands are reasonable and he lets me be around the kid. If not, we can always leave and go back to Uzu to start fresh there."

Kakashi glared at the smirking man.

"Hopefully it won't come to that. Now," Kakashi changed the subject, "Why don't you open that box, Naruto."

"Yes, let's see what the old man died protecting all those years." grumbled Zabuza.

Sakura entered the conversation for the first time. "But how do you know he was protecting that box? He could have-"

"Sakura-san, I think it's quite obvious if you think about it." interrupted Haku gently. "Ryuji-san stayed in those ruins for a reason. If there was nothing left to protect, he would simply have left all the bad memories and the village behind."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." muttered the girl.

Tsuna gently got the box out of his backpack. It wasn't sealed in any way, so he could open it without trouble.

He gasped. Inside were eight rings!

One simple silver one, without decoration. But the others...

A set of Dying will rings!

Made out of black metal, the rings made him think of small branches who held a round, pointy gem in place. They were all identical, except for the colour of the stones. Red, blue, green, yellow, indigo, purple and...

Tsuna's hand shook as he gently lifted the Sky ring up and studied it.

It was orange. An orange stone... The Vongola ring had been a sky blue, which had never made sense to him as the Mare ring and the Arcobaleno pacifier had both been the exact same colour as the ring he now held between his fingers.

"Rings?" asked Haku curious. "Like Ryuji-san's?"

"I think so, one for me and one for each of my guardians, I think." He pretended to be confused.

"What about that simple ring than?" asked Sakura.

"No idea." He replied and he honestly didn't know. He put the Sky ring on the ring finger of his right hand and tried the simple silver ring on his middle finger.

Sky users could use boxes and rings from all flame types if he recalled right...

He focused his will and the Sky ring lit up with flames instantly. The silver ring took a few seconds longer, before it too lit up in flames.

The flames brightened briefly and the ring changed form. Seeing it shocked him and the flames disappeared.

Was that?

But that wasn't possible... Was it?

He brought his hand closer.

It was!

Natsu!

The ring was still plain silver, but now instead of just the band, there was an image.

An image of a familiar lion cub with a little cap and with a large mane.

Could it really be Natsu?

"It changed." observed Sasuke out loud. "Maybe you need to try it again?"

Tsuna gulped but refocused his will.

A little lion fell in his lap and immediately jumped into Tsuna's arms to cuddle. Almost automatically Tsuna hugged his little friend tightly.

"Now that is something you don't see every day." Remarked Kakashi dryly.

Tsuna released the cub, who turned to greet the other people around.

"Gao~"

"Kami-sama, he is sooo cute!" squealed Sakura happily.

Natsu grew shy and buried his face in Tsuna's stomach. The blond gently petted the cub to reassure him.

"Those are your flames right?" asked Zabuza as he pointed at the cub's mane and the end of his tail.

"Seems like it." Tsuna smiled happily.

He felt so happy he could cry!

"And he came out of that ring? Strange animal..." muttered the man deep in thought.

"Almost like a summon." reflected Kakashi.

"Or a nin animal. Like Akamaru." Sakura smiled softly at the little guy.

Sasuke eyed the cub sceptically. "You think it can fight? It sure doesn't look like it."

"Akamaru's small as well. I'm sure Natsu will be a good partner." Tsuna frowned at the Uchiha.

Sasuke blinked at the blond with wide eyes and then abruptly looked away.

Tsuna tilted his head in confusion at his reaction.

Sakura squealed as Natsu imitated him, tilting his little head in the same way.

Kakashi chuckled while Zabuza had to look away from the cute scene.

"You gave him a name already?" giggled Haku happily.

Tsuna shrugged as he gathered the cub in his arms. "It just seemed to fit."

"Gao~" Natsu beamed up at Tsuna in obvious delight.

"That's strange. I wonder if it means something." Sasuke pointed back towards the box.

"Huh?" Tsuna saw what his team-mate was pointing at.

On the inside of the lid was the drawing of a chibi figure that could only be Byakuran smiling happily and giving a peace sign.

Tsuna felt like face palming.

"Gao~!"

TBC.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of you saw this coming, but I hope you liked it anyway xD  
> Next: Finally arriving in Konoha.


	11. Finally Home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for all your wonderful comments and reviews! Your support is what keeps this story going! I really appreciate it!  
> Enjoy lovelies xxx

Tsuna took a deep breath as he straightened up. Something told him he would thank Reborn for his lessons before this talk was over.

They stood in the Hokage's office. Kakashi had just finished debriefing and had barely mentioned Tsuna's bloodline. Behind the Sandaime were three other people. Two males and a female. One of the males was covered in bandages and had a cross shaped scar on his chin. Old people...

Zabuza and Haku were currently under surveillance in another room of the Hokage tower, and Tsuna felt uncomfortable being away from his Cloud...

The Sandaime hadn't interrupted. He had linked his fingers together and rested his chin on them, studying all the shinobi in his office intently as Kakashi talked.

Now they were waiting in silence for the leader to talk.

Tsuna wasn't sure what would be said, but he knew he had to take responsibility now and address the Hokage himself. He could do this.

He had faced worse, damn it!

"Your sensei has stayed very vague when talking about your powers, young Naruto." started the man.

Tsuna narrowed his eyes. "My _bloodline_ , Hokage-sama? Might I ask what sensei has told you already?"

The man eyed him intently.

"I merely mentioned that your bloodline is fire-based and binds people to you in a way that wasn't very clear to me yet. I suggested not trying to mess with such a bond until more was know which we now do." Kakashi supplied as the Hokage didn't seem intend on replying.

"Indeed." the old man agreed.

Tsuna didn't know a lot of this Hokage. He reminded him of Timoteo, the head of the Vongola family before him. But he didn't know this man. Tsuna hadn't met or really talked to the man, except for his Academy application that one time.

And after just awakening his flames of course...

"As Kakashi-sensei explained during our debriefing, we met a man in Uzushiogakure who confirmed to us that these flames I awakened a few months ago are indeed part of a bloodline known in the Uzumaki clan."

"But the man you met wasn't a Uzumaki yet he possessed the same powers." The Hokage raised an eyebrow at him.

Tsuna grit his teeth. He suddenly remembered why he hated all those political discussions-it always felt like pulling teeth...

Sasuke took a step closer to him.

"I'm afraid I can not confirm or deny that, as Ryuji-san never gave us a last name." replied Tsuna simply.

"That does not answer our question." interrupted the old lady.

Tsuna frowned at her. "I don't recall any of you asking me any questions. I also don't recall being introduced to you."

Sakura flinched behind him.

Tsuna gulped, feeling his confidence falter.

The lady glared at him, but it was the bandaged man who addressed him. "My name is Danzo Shimura. These are Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado. We are the Hokage's council."

"And might I inquire why you are present for a simple mission debriefing?" asked Tsuna curiously. He did suspect that answer but hoped they wouldn't-

"We heard your mission took an unexpected turn as well as a little trip to Uzu. We were merely concerned." the man smiled at him.

Tsuna had to fight not to react and take a step away from the man. His intuition was screaming at him to get away from Danzo.

"I'm sure that I speak for my whole team when I assure you we appreciate your concern."

The man stopped smiling and eyed him briefly before smiling again.

"We would simply like to have an understanding of your abilities and an explanation to Momoshi Zabuza's presence in Konoha."

"I could show you." Tsuna entered Hyper Dying Will mode.

He immediately felt much calmer.

Homura watched the flames on his forehead and hands with wide eyes while Koharu's and Danzo's eyes narrowed. The Hokage, who had already seen these flames, merely eyed him curiously.

"These are my flames. From what we heard there are seven different types of flames. Mine are called Sky flames and are apparently know to try and attract other possible flame users."

"So there are others who possess those powers?" interrupted Danzo.

Tsuna frowned, fixing his bright orange eyes on the man. "Everyone has flames. It was explained to us that flames can be compared to chakra. Every one has it, but not every one can access them and while with enough training training people can learn to access chakra, flames are much trickier. The last Uzukage apparently stopped the experimentations to learn more about this because of the high body count."

"To continue what I was saying," Tsuna eyed Danzo briefly, "It seems my flames have already starting reaching out to people to start bonding with, without my knowing. Zabuza is one of them."

"Who are the others?" asked the Hokage.

Tsuna's lips thinned. "I don't feel comfortable revealing that information yet. I haven't had a chance to talk to that person yet and I won't consider us bonded until we do."

"Your Hokage asked you a question, boy." Homaru glared at him.

Tsuna took a breath. "I was giving to understand that as part of the Uzuamki clan, clan law extended to me. My bloodline only affects me and the people I will bond with. I don't understand why I need to explain myself to you." He eyed the three council members. "I am willing to give the Hokage a basic understanding of my bloodline, of course." He inclined his head towards the man.

"One boy does not make a clan." commented the woman.

"Really now? I was told otherwise." sneered Sasuke suddenly.

"Now now," Kakashi finally stepped in. "I myself can testify that exceptions have already been made on that requirement."

"Yes, but both the Uchiha and the Hatake are Konoha clans." paried Danzo immediately.

Tsuna shrugged with an innocent smile. "If that is such a problem I can always resign as a shinobi and leave."

"You-"

"That is enough." interrupted the Hokage as he frowned at his advisors. "Naruto-kun is a part of this village, just as some of his ancestors before him. I am sure that we can come to a compromise. I would like, however, to have a private talk with Naruto-kun. If you would all leave us."

The last part wasn't a suggestion.

The council clearly wasn't happy but they left without saying anything. Danzo glared at the Hokage.

Once it was clear the elder had left, Kakashi ushered his two genin outside. "We'll be waiting outside, Naruto."

Tsuna nodded, not taking his eyes off the Sandaime.

"Now, Tsuna-kun." the man smiled at him once they were alone. "How are you feeling?"

Tsuna blinked. "Huh?"

He had a strange flash-back to their conversation in the Hospital a few months ago, with Iruka-nii-san.

Unconsciously his flames dissipated.

"Kakashi mentioned you had gotten hurt during your first meeting with Zabuza-san."

"Ah, right." He felt so stupid right now. "Haku helped and I heal fast. It was gone after a few days."

"Good, good." the man seemed pleased. "So, you managed to find out what those flames are."

Tsuna nodded.

"I will try to run as much interference as I can, but I fear you might get summoned a few more times by any of our councils. I can only advise that you don't speak to any of them without me being present."

"I can do that." said Tsuna relieved.

"Very good. Now, about your bloodline. I will need to know a few things, of course. I understand that you are not obliged to do so, but I hope you'll agree to accommodate me in this instance."

"I'm sure we can come to an agreement." said Tsuna.

"I would like to know who you bond with. I want you to talk to the person you had in mind as soon as possible and if they agree, I expect to be notified. I suspect my advisers, and more particularly Danzo, might try to influence you to bond to certain people."

"I will."

"Especially if they are from outside Konoha." he smiled wryly.

"What's going to happen to Zabuza and Haku?" asked Tsuna concerned.

"They'll both need to at least spend the night at the T&I department. Nothing too grave." He quickly reassured the blond at Tsuna's worried look. "The fact that Zabuza is a missing nin and Haku never swore his allegiance plays in their favor. Still I'm sure you understand that as the Hokage the safety of the inhabitants of this village has priority."

"Of course. Can I visit them?"

"Of course. They'll be in interrogation for a while, but unless they give us reason to they won't be harmed."

"Thank you." sighed Tsuna, relieved.

"Is there something else you think I should know about?"

"Well, Sensei told you about the box with the rings, right?"

The Sandaime nodded.

"As I said before, there are seven different flames types. I need to bond with at least one person per flame type. At least. For each flame type, I'll assign someone I consider a Guardian. They will each get a ring."

"Guardians? That's a peculiar name."

Tsuna shrugged. "I have no idea what it means, only that they take care of me, as I do for them."

"Alright. I can't help but notice you have two rings." noticed the man.

Tsuna nodded, again. "Yes, I do. The other ring was also included in the box."

He lit the ring up and Natsu landed in his lap. "This little guy is Natsu. I named him." Tsuna smiled sheepishly. "I'll be training with him so we can fight together."

The Hokage nodded. "Much like the Inuzuka then. I'll make a mention of it in your file."

Tsuna gently rubbed Natsu's ear. "Thank you."

"Very well. I'll let you go now." The man dismissed Tsuna. "Rest up and tell your sensei I expect team 7 in my office tomorrow morning, at 9 o'clock. No exceptions."

Tsuna giggled at that. Yeah, apparently team 7 weren't the only ones Kakashi made wait for him.

"Will do. Thank you,Hokage-sama."

-o-o-

After informing his team of what the Hokage had said, Kakashi had dismissed them to get some rest. His team-mates had shortly after left for their homes.

But instead of going to his lonely apartment, Tsuna made his way to the Academy. While he longed to see Iruka-nii-san again, he didn't look forward to having to explain everything, again!

He sighed as he approached the building, barely managing to side step a young boy who ran out of the building at top speed.

"Konohamaru!" yelled Iruka as he chased the boy out.

The kid yelped and continued running only to tip a few feet further over the long scarf he was wearing.

"Ah!"

He stayed down, face planted firmly in the ground.

Tsuna sweat dropped.

Iruka didn't slow down, grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt and looked ready to start yelling when Tsuna intervened.

"Nii-san, I'm back." He smiled at the man.

Iruka startled, his eyes widening as he saw the blond and started smiling. "Tsuna-kun! When did you get back?"

"Tsuna-nii!" exclaimed Konohamaru happily. "You're back!"

Iruka shook the boy without taking his eyes of Tsuna. "I heard your mission went well. Can you tell me about it?"

Konohamaru was clearly getting dizzy.

"It was... something else. Ano, I think he's getting sick."

The boy looked green.

Iruka stopped shaking him but frowned at the boy. "He shouldn't have been trying to skip detention."

"Aha." chuckled Tsuna weakly. "Do you have some time? To talk?"

"Sure, let me drop this troublemaker in detention and I'm all yours." The older man smiled at him. "I'll be right back."

Tsuna only had to wait a few minutes before Iruka came back, Konohamaru-free.

"What did you want to talk about?" the teacher asked.

Tsuna gulped. "Can we go somewhere more private? My place or something?"

Iruka frowned. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, it's just..."

"We can go to my place, if you want to?"

Tsuna nodded thankful. "Yes, that would be fine."

Iruka placed his hand on Tsuna's shoulder and shinshuned them into his apartment.

Not having expected such a sudden change, Tsuna barely caught himself before he fell. Iruka helped steady him.

"Do you want something to drink?"

"Some water is fine."

Getting them a drink, Iruka sat down at the table and looked expectantly at the younger boy.

Tsuna took a deep breath and started the whole explanation. How he had found out about his flames, what they were, how they were reaching out to other people... the whole shebang.

He didn't mention Zabuza by name, only that he started bonding to someone he met while away.

He didn't feel like dealing with that headache just yet. Maybe he could tell Iruka by introducing him to Zabuza. That way, the Kiri nin would have to deal with chuunin.

It felt evil, but he supposed Reborn had to have rubbed off on him somehow...

Iruka stayed quiet for a few minutes, clearly processing.

"That a lot to take in."

"I know." Tsuna smiled wryly.

"Why did you tell me all that? From what you just said, this is considered a bloodline, so why...?"

"Because I realized my flames have already reached out to you."

Iruka looked shocked.

"Really?"

"Do you want me to show you?" he asked hesitantly.

Iruka nodded. "Please."

Tsuna entered HDW.

Iruka gasped. "Wow, I know I've seen it before, but still..."

Tsuna smiled and held out his hand. Iruka blinked and then placed his hand in Tsuna's.

The blond felt humbled by the trust the man showed in him by holding something that was seemingly on fire.

Tsuna closed his eyes as he felt the bond between them briefly flare to live and grow stronger.

Iruka gasped and placed his other hand on the center of his chest.

The feeling left as soon as it came. "Was that...?"

Tsuna smiled at the man. "Yes, those are your flames. Rain flames, I believe."

Iruka looked at him with wide eyes, full of wonder.

Then the man started smiling. "That felt... I can't describe it. But it's gone again."

Tsuna giggled as the man started pouting. "Like coming home, right?"

Iruka blinked. "Yes, that's exactly what it's like."

They smiled brightly at each other.

**TBC.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Badass!Tsuna and Boss!Tsuna makes an appearance! I hope you liked it!


	12. Introducing the Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for all your wonderful comments and reviews! Your support is what keeps this story going! I really appreciate it!   
> This chapter is a bit shorter but I hope you’ll enjoy it anyway!

They met the next day, again before the Hokage, and all three genin were surprised Kakashi made it to the meeting in time.

"After hearing from the T&I department about the package you left them yesterday, we can conclude that no trouble will follow you to Konoha." started the Hokage.

"Package?" asked Sakura confused.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Tsuna narrowed his eyes.

"I remember Kakashi-sensei sealing away the heads from both Ryuji and Tenzen. What did you do with them?" Sasuke frowned.

The Hokage narrowed his eyes at the boys' rudeness.

"One of our interrogation experts dealt with them."

Sakura turned green. "Their heads?" she muttered disgusted.

"What exactly did that reveal?" asked Tsuna coldly. "Anything I should now? About _my_ bloodline?" Now he understood why the Hokage hadn't insisted on him spilling the beans yesterday. They were simply going to drain Ryuji's brain of information...

"We got plenty from the boy, the other man on the other hand..." the Hokage looked frustrated. "Somehow we couldn't get too deep to get anything of real importance. The boy didn't reveal anything new. It's been known that after Uzu's destruction Kiri had been raiding the place for anything of value. We just had no idea they were still doing so."

"So that Tenzen guy was from Kiri?" asked Sakura, who still looked ill.

The Hokage nodded. "A chuunin, deep undercover."

The older man reached into his desk and withdrew a stack of papers. "Now there's something else I wanted to talk to you about. I am less then pleased about it, but my council went behind my back to ensure team 7 would be admitted to the next chuunin exams."

A small amount of killer intent was released. Tsuna wasn't sure if that had been the Hokage, their sensei or both.

"They did what?" snarled Kakashi furiously.

"The what exams?" asked Tsuna confused.

Sasuke answered. "Chuunin exams. It's what's used to promote genin to the rank of chuunin outside of war times, right?"

"That is correct, Sasuke-kun." the Hokage nodded.

Sakura frowned. "We've been genin for only a few months. Why would they do that?"

Tsuna grit his teeth. "Because of me?"

"Mostly." nodded the Hokage. "A new bloodline obviously makes them nervous. Count with that your other team-mates are the last Uchiha and the daughter of one of the members of the civilian council, and who your sensei is; people will have high expectations."

"No pressure." grimaced Tsuna.

Sakura blushed as Sasuke looked away with a glare.

"This is _my_ squad." Inserted Kakashi-sensei frostily. "Why wasn't I consulted on this?"

"As I said, they went over my head. Their applications are signed by the Damyou." sighed the Hokage. "The only reassuring fact is that the next exams will be held here, in Konoha."

"Yes, next week!" snarled Kakashi angrily.

The Hokage narrowed his eyes in warning. Kakashi straightened, but didn't look away from the man.

"Next week?" asked Sasuke with a raised eyebrow. "That soon?"

Tsuna frowned. "Hokage-sama, I mean no disrespect, but for your own council to go behind your back like that..."

"There's nothing I can do about that." The old man sighed, suddenly looking his age.

"Replace them?" suggested Tsuna. "When you think about it, a hidden villages is a dictatorship. You're the Hokage. Your word is law. Fire them and replace them."

The man blinked at him. "It's not that simple..."

Tsuna shrugged. "Why not? Did someone elect them? What they did here could be considered an act of rudeness at least, insubordination or even treason in the worst case. If you can't change anything about what they did now, use it to make sure this doesn't happen again."

They could see the older man's brain started working.

"But why would they ask something like this from us? We barely managed to complete one C-rank! And even that was a bit of a disaster. People die in these exams!" Sakura glared angrily. "Oh just you wait until I get home! My mom has a lot of explaining to do!"

"That's right. Do we even qualify to participate? We're rookie genin. I don't know about my team-mates but I don't feel ready to partake in the exam." added Tsuna.

"Exactly!" yelled the girl.

"Mah, mah, let's all calm down a bit." Kakashi tried.

Sasuke turned to glare at the man. "Seriously?"

There was a knock at the door. They went quiet as the Hokage almost desperately called for the person behind it to come in.

"Hokage-sama? Is everything alright?" Iruka-nii's head poked around the door.

"Ah Iruka-san." the Hokage sighed in relief.

"What is going on here? People can hear the screaming from the mission desk." he frowned disapprovingly.

"We're being forced to enter the chuunin exams." Tsuna explained to his Rain.

Iruka blinked. "Excuse me? Could you repeat that?"

Tsuna did so with a smile. Iruka-nii-san looked calm but Tsuna wasn't fooled.

He could practically feel the torrent that was Iruka's flames crash into his, wanting to reassure himself the blond was alright, but ready to be unleashed on the ones who opposed his Sky.

And while usually Rain flames were meant to calm and slow things down, Iruka's experienced control of something he hadn't known he possessed until the day before, only made Tsuna more irritable and worried.

Tsuna wasn't sure if Iruka knew what he was doing. If he was consciously using his flames like this, he might be very close to activating them...

"And who decided that?" asked the Pissed-off Rain.

"Yes, which council was it that went behind your back, Hokage-sama?" asked Kakashi frostily.

The Sandaime didn't answer immediately.

The silence lasted long enough to make the following crash all the more loud.

The sound came from below them.

Tsuna barely had time to look down as the floor beside him exploded in pieces and Zabuza emerged, clearly looking pissed off. He dragged Tsuna possessively into his arms, almost shielding the boy from the others in the room.

He had made his way through at least three floors to get here, barehanded.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING?! Agitating the brat like that!" The man snarled angrily, leaking killer intent all over the place.

Iruka-nii-san took a step closer to them, making the man focus his glare on him, but Iruka didn't back down.

"What are you doing? Release him immediately. Who are you anyway?"

Tsuna sighed as Zabuza clutched him closer. Why him? He had hoped to introduce them in a neutral and calm environment, he had hoped for a nice and peaceful conversation...

"Iruka-nii-san, this is Momichi Zabuza, my Cloud. Zabuza, meet Umino Iruka, my Rain. Play nice now."

His eyes widened in fear as the two exchanged evil, shark-like smiles. He could expect something like this from Zabuza, but Iruka-nii?

Why did thing like this always happen to him?

"Who are we killing?" asked his Cloud almost purring with malicious happiness.

"The Hokage was just about to enlighten us."

They both turned towards the man, who looked like he wanted to back away from them.

Tsuna felt like crying.

...

How was this his life?

...

Getting the three adults, but mostly Tsuna's Cloud and Rain, to calm down again was a Herculean task. Shinobi from T&I were crawling all over the place, which lead to introducing team 7 briefly to both Ibiki and Anko, which was traumatic in it's own right, but Tsuna was more concerned about his Cloud who seemed to have transformed into some sort of octopus that refused to let him go.

Iruka was ignoring that and focusing on the Hokage. While it was a relief to not have two of his elements cling to him like babies, it also meant that Iruka felt confident enough in his place at Tsuna's side to not feel threatened by Zabuza and in the Cloud's abilities to keep their Sky safe.

After meeting for the first time five minutes ago, Iruka trusted the missing nin. Somehow they had bonded as elements in that time. It was astonishing. Tsuna had never known of two elements bonding that quick. Even his guardians in his first life had to learn to rely on each other...

Tsuna wasn't sure what Iruka was saying/yelling about, but he didn't think it would be wise to let that conversation continue.

How did he always get himself into such messes?

He sighed deeply and entered Hyper Dying Will mode.

The whole room felt quiet abruptly, everyone turning to look at him.

"That is quite enough of that." he gently reprimanded.

He gently untangled Zabuza's arms from around him. The Cloud allowed him to do so, and Tsuna didn't provoke him by putting more space between them. He stayed beside the man and held out a hand towards Iruka.

The Rain blinked as he felt the Sky flames flow through their bond and even Zabuza closed his eyes in bliss for a second.

Iruka sighed and approached Tsuna to take his hands.

"I'm fine." the blond reassured his Family with a smile.

The Hokage sighed in relief.

The unknown shinobi eyed Tsuna suspiciously. He supposed the flames were weird, let alone his supposed 'control' of two older and more experienced shinobi.

"Why don't you go back to Haku? The sooner you finish whatever they want with you in the T&I, the sooner we can all leave this place."

Zabuza grunted, clearly not happy but, with a last look at the blond, he disappeared back through the hole he had made.

Ibiki, Anko and the other nameless shinobi followed him. The ANBU members that had popped up out of who-knows-where were dismissed by the Hokage.

"That could have gone better." Tsuna admitted with a sigh.

"Could have been worse." smiled Kakashi cheerfully.

Tsuna shot him a blank stare.

**TBC.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Introducing Iruka and Zabuza! What did you think? Classic Rain (Like Yamamoto) didn't work out for that scene, so I gave Iruka some Squalo personality traits ^^ I hope you liked!
> 
> Question: Concerning Kakashi and Sakura; Should they become part of Tsuna's family? Which flames would you give them? And should they be family or Guardian? Let me know what you think?


	13. Exams!? HIEEEE!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for all your wonderful comments and reviews! I really appreciate it! I love reading about what flames you guys would give to certain characters XD Some of you surprised me with your suggestions, but they make me think and give me lots of ideas! Thank you again!
> 
> This is a nice long chapter, mostly to make up for the short one before this ^^'
> 
> Also, tomorrow is my birthday, so consider this a present from me to all of you ;) I hope you'll enjoy reading it!

The next week flew by.

Kakashi continued training them, more intently than he ever had before.

"One week is not enough to start training a new skill, so we'll be training to master the skills you already have." The cyclops had explained the first day. By the end of the week, all three genin were sparring with their sensei at a rapid pace, three against one, on the top of the water of a river.

Zabuza had been released the day before and, probably in an effort not to be outdone by Kakashi, had joined in by throwing high-level water jutsu their way at unpredictable times.

It was hell.

However Tsuna had been used to spartan training techniques for years – Thank you, Reborn! - so he knew better than to speak up about it. Sasuke was not one to complain in the first place, but Sakura had regretted opening her mouth the first day...

Seeing Kakashi finding pleasure in 'tortur- training' them, reminded him a bit of Reborn. Strangely, it made him more fond of the man.

Long story short, no genin in team 7 found time to look up their classmates and socialize at the end of the day, which was a pity because Tsuna had hoped to run into Lee and his team before the start of the exams.

-o-o-

They entered the Academy side by side. A lot of people were loitering in the hallways, but they quietly made their way up to the third floor.

Tsuna briefly waved towards team 9 as he spotted them on the second floor, but he wasn't sure they had seen him.

Kakashi waited for them at the entrance of room 301. He sighed as he saw them.

"Well, the three of you trained hard the last few days. You have all grown a lot since this team was formed. I'm proud of you. Now go in and kick some ass! Don't disappoint me now, I've bet a lot of money on you three." he smiled at them and shun-shinned out.

"Why can't we have a normal sensei?" muttered Sakura with a sigh.

Tsuna smiled fondly. Kakashi was really growing on him.

Sasuke snorted. "Let's get this over with."

He opened the door and stepped into the room. He looked around, stepped aside and held the door for his team-mates.

Tsuna looked around. There were a lot of people inside... Mostly shinobi from other villages. He spotted the other Konoha genin.

Sasuke inclined his head towards the last group and led the way towards them.

"Well, well," exclaimed Inuzuka Kiba loudly as they approached. "I didn't think they would allow you in here, dead last."

Tsuna felt himself turning red.

Sasuke glared at the arrogant kid. "Shut up, mutt."

"Sasuke-kun!" screeched Yamanaka Ino as she tried to tackle Sasuke. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Nice try, Ino-pig!" yelled Sakura who intercepted the blonde.

Tsuna took a step back from what promised to become a cat-fight as the girls continued snapping at each other.

Sasuke stepped back with him, not leaving his side. He glared at the girls.

"So troublesome." muttered Shikamaru as he approached them. "So all the rookies are here."

Tsuna had to bite his tongue to keep quiet. He had other things he'd rather have been doing right about now.

"Seems that way." grunted Sasuke.

Shikamaru eyed the Uchiha.

"So all nine rookies are taking the exam." Kiba smirked arrogantly. "I wonder how far we'll get, huh Sasuke-kun?" he mocked.

Tsuna frowned.

Sasuke smirked back, clearly not bothered. "You seem confident, mutt."

Kiba twitched. "We've done a lot of training and we won't lose to any of you."

"Keep dreaming." dismissed the Uchiha.

Hyuuga Hinata seemed very uncomfortable behind her team-mates. Aburame Shino, their third member, seemed indifferent.

"You guys make a lot of noise." A tall teen appeared behind them. He had silver hair, wore glasses and a Konoha headband. "You guys are just rookies, fresh out of the Academy. Stop making such a ruckus. This isn't a school trip."

The guy eyed them each briefly. Tsuna's intuition started screaming as those eyes studied him. He gasped softly, making Sasuke turn towards him.

The teen's eyes lingered on the raven.

Tsuna's eyes narrowed and he stepped closer towards his team-mate.

"Who are you?" asked Tsuna suspiciously.

"I'm Kabuto. But look behind you." the teen smirked at them.

The rookies turned back, but Tsuna didn't take his eyes of Kabuto.

"You seemed to have pissed off a lot of those genin. Everyone is nervous for this exam, so stop causing a scene."

They turned back towards him, but Kabuto simply continued. "Well, I can't really blame you, this is the first time you've participated." He smiled nostalgically. "I remember my first time."

"Kabuto-san, this is your second time?" asked Sakura curiously.

"Nope, my seventh. This exam is held twice a year, so this is my fourth year." He smiled at her.

Sasuke snorted. "You must really suck then."

Kabuto only smiled at the Uchiha.

"You must know a lot about this exam." remarked Ino.

"That's right. Hehe, I'll share some info with you rookies. With these nin-info cards."

Tsuna narrowed his eyes as Kabuto showed them the cards. Why would their competition share information with them, just like that? Something was definitely wrong here...

"Nin-info cards?" repeated Sakura confused.

"They are basically cards which have information about other shinobi burned on them with chakra. I have four years' worth of information on here. Over 200 cards." he bragged. "They look blank and can only be viewed when I apply my chakra to them. Anyone you want some information on?"

"Subaku no Gaara." Sasuke replied immediately.

"Who?" asked Tsuna confused.

"That redhead from Suna." Sasuke eyed the kid briefly, showing Tsuna who he was talking about. "I bumped into him and his team the other day while they were bothering the Hokage's grandson."

"It's no fun if you can tell me their name." Kabuto interrupted them, his eyes fixed on Sasuke. He showed them the card. "Subaku no Gaara, or Gaara of the dessert, is the third child of the Kazekage. His mission history: 8 C-ranks, one B-rank and even an A-rank. That's impressive for a genin. he's a newcomer from a foreign country so I don't have a lot of info, but apparently he's come back from every mission without even a scratch."

Tsuna tuned out the rest of his monologue. How on earth did that guy get such information? He couldn't imagine that a Konoha genin would be able to find out such mission history about one of the Kazekage's children...

The longer that guy talked, the stronger his intuition tried to warn Tsuna away from him.

A smoke bomb went off by the blackboard. Ibiki appeared, flanked by numerous other shinobi.

The man sent them a sinister smile. "Welcome. I am Morino Ibiki and I'll be your examiner for this first exam."

...

A written exam...

Tsuna started sweating. He should have seen this coming. Of course, any exam located at the Academy had to have been written. Why did he not see this coming?! He should have studied more... He should have studied either way!

He felt himself panic as he made his way to his assigned seat. He quickly threw Sasuke a hopefully reassuring smile as he saw the raven frown at him.

He would survive this!

To help fight the panic clawing at him, he entered Hyper Dying Will mode, without actually activating his flames.

He immediately calmed down.

"Hi there."

In his panic he hadn't seen Neji sit down next to him. The Hyuuga gave him a small smile.

"Neji." he greeted.

"You seemed a bit nervous there. We haven't even started yet."

Tsuna smiled at the boy. "Thanks, but I'm fine now."

Neji studied him intently. "So it seems. I thought you had blue eyes."

"They change sometimes." Tsuna smiled reassuringly. "Good luck."

"You too."

In the front of the room Ibiki had just finished explaining the rules; the 10 points system, the deductions when caught cheating, and the tenth question.

Tsuna titled his head in confusion. Why not throw people out when they cheated? Why would you give them multiple opportunities to do so?

'Be Proud ninja'? Why did Ibiki end his speech with that? It's almost... Like they wanted them to cheat... But cheat at a ninja level, not like high school students.

God, he loved his intuition sometimes.

Next to him Neji had started writing. Tsuna didn't dare turn towards him to see what he was doing.

Okay, how was he going to get through this? He didn't have any special techniques that could help him here! Not even his flames were very useful.

With a sudden movement his head collided with the desk.

He almost had a flashback from all the times Reborn had hit him in the back of his head when he was doing or thinking something stupid.

"No reason to maim yourself." grunted Ibiki in the front.

The other proctors laughed.

But Tsuna didn't react to them. He could almost hear Reborn berate him. _"Dame-Tsuna, use that big brain of yours, listen to that intuition! Think for a second. You get one hour to finish this test, but the last question won't be asked until the very last ten minutes? -"_

"You alright?" whispered Neji next to him.

Tsuna grunted and lifted his head so he could rest his chin on the desk. He probably had a bruise on his forehead now.

Even in HDW mode he could feel the nerves come back.

Other teams were being dismissed left and right, and Tsuna still hadn't started his test.

The questions on his paper were difficult but maybe Reborn's tutoring could help him solve one or two.

Let's see...

There was one question, the one about the trajectory of a kunai, that he might be able to at least partially solve... It couldn't hurt to try.

He was just looking over what he had written as Ibiki spoke up again.

"Time for the tenth question."

Tsuna squared his shoulders. He had to get this right!

"Now, before we get to it, I'd like to go over a new and added rule for this question."

Huh?

"Finally." snarked Ibiki as a genin came back into the room. "Was your doll playing beneficial?"

"Now, I'll explain: the rule of desperation..."

Ibiki would have been a great actor, Tsuna thought distracted.

"First, for this tenth question, you must decide whether you will take it or not."

"Choose?!" yelled a kunoichi upset. "What happens if we choose not to?"

"If you choose not to, both you and your team-mates will fail this exam."

The genin started yelling.

"What does that mean?!"

"Of course we'll take the question!"

"And now... The other rule..." stated Ibiki dramatically.

They all quieted down immediately.

Tsuna frowned.

"If you take it and answer incorrectly..." - dramatic pause - "That person will lose the right to ever take the chuunin exams again!"

What? Tsuna thought stunned as the room exploded with noise. Could they actually do that? Maybe for Konoha genin, but for genin from other villages? Would their Kage really let Konoha have that much power over them?

"What kind of stupid rule is that?" Kiba yelled over all the noise. "There are guys here who have taken this exams multiple time!"

"You guys were unlucky. This year, it's my rules."

Tsuna bit his lip. Ibiki's rules? Wasn't Ibiki... head of the T&I department? He had been introduced briefly to the man as he had chased Zabuza into the Hokage's office a week ago...

"But I'm giving you an out."

How generous... Tsuna deadpanned. "Those that aren't confident can choose not to take it, and try again next year."

Can choose not to take it? Why would Ibiki say it like that? Why did he empathize on the word choose?

It was almost as if... Was this the tenth question?

In any case, Tsuna had learned – Thank you, Reborn, AGAIN! - to never back down from any situation. Even if you didn't have all the info, trust your intuition and keep going forward.

And while his intuition hadn't reared its head since the exam started, it also had not tried to warn him.

It was like a leap of faith...

"Now then, those that do not wish to take the question, leave the room. Your team-mates will follow immediately."

One by one, people were rising and loudly leaving the room.

Tsuna briefly looked back towards his team. Sasuke was frowning. They locked eyes and Sasuke raised an eyebrow, almost as if to ask what Tsuna wanted to do. Tsuna smiled reassuringly.

Sasuke smirked and settled down.

Sakura on the other hand seemed to hesitate and almost put her hand up. He made eye contact and smiled confidently.

She blinked, but didn't seem decided. She looked at him helplessly.

Was she giving the decision to him?

He nodded and she was visibly relieved.

He turned back to the front.

The room was silent. Ibiki watched them all with raised eyebrows, almost daring them to stay seated.

The nervous energy in the room seemed to triple immediately, but no one spoke up, no one stood up, and yet Ibiki didn't react.

Tsuna had enough. He raised his hand. "Excuse me? I have a question?" He gently released a small and invisible wave of Sky flames through the room. He could almost feel the other genin un-tense a bit. Neji sighed besides him.

Ibiki blinked. "What?" he barked.

"Are you done? I don't think anyone else is going to leave. So can you ask us the question already?"

"I'll ask again: Your life and your career depend on this, this is your last chance to quit."

"That was technically not a question, but no, I won't quit now. Ask your question." Tsuna smiled brightly.

Neji, and some other people in the room he couldn't see, gasped.

What had he done now? He wanted to turn towards the Hyuuga but he didn't want to turn away from Ibiki.

The man smirked. "You asked for it. Now, to everyone here remaining..."

Tsuna rolled his eyes sky wards at another dramatic pause.

His smirk widened.

"I congratulate you on passing the first exam!"

This was the bell test all over again... Were all Konoha jounin such drama queens? He sighed as the room burst into angry and confused exclamations.

-o-o-

The proctor for the second exam was a Kunoichi named Anko.

She took them towards an area called training ground 44, or the Forest of Death.

Anko started giving them a little speech, but Tsuna wasn't really interested. Sasuke was listening and Tsuna trusted him enough to tell them afterwards what was important.

"Are you all right?" he asked Sakura.

She nodded. "Yeah, thanks, I didn't..."

"Ibiki is part of the T&I department." he reassured her. "It was a normal reaction."

"You didn't react like that. And neither did Sasuke-kun."

"Maybe, but we're a team. We take care of each other. If something happened to me, I'd trust both of you to help me out. Trust us to do that for you as well."

She smiled.

"Let's go." Sasuke interrupted softly. He led his team into a tent, grabbed a scroll, handed it to Tsuna to hide and led them back out. "We're at gate 12, let's move."

The other two nodded.

Sasuke explained the basics of the test. It was pretty straight forward. Every team had gotten one of two types of scrolls. they had three days to find the scroll they didn't have, make their way to the tower that was located in the middle of the forest and go inside.

Seemed simple enough.

What could possibly go wrong?

-o-o-

He had cursed them! He really should have known better than to think that!

Two hours into the exams they had been attacked. They easily took care of the rain nin and even managed to take his scroll. It was the same as the one they already had, so Tsuna handed it to Sakura.

It was only a little later that they were attacked by a snake, who had managed to swallow Tsuna before it took off. He had managed to turn it to stone by overloading it with his flames, but it had succeeded in separating them.

When he finally found his team-mates again, Sakura was unconsious and Sasuke was trembling in fear before a grass nin.

Tsuna wasn't sure where the man had come from. All he knew was that this man threatened his team-mates.

"So, that's the Kyuubi brat." smirked the man evilly.

Tsuna frowned internally. What? How did he know about that? All Tsuna himself had ever seen as physical prove that the demon was sealed inside him was his seal. How did this man know about it? Had he been a Konoha shinobi at the time of the sealing? Was this a missing nin?

Like a snake, the man struck out and kicked Tsuna harshly in the chest, throwing the boy back and through two trees.

He must have blacked out for a second, because when he came to, it was to Sasuke's screams.

The man had been beating up him team-mate. Sasuke was bloody and the man was kneeling next to him. Sasuke was shaking as the man sadistically licked his lips with his freaky tongue. He reached down, whispered something to the raven that had the younger boy tensing up in shock and leaned in, almost as if to kiss him.

"No!" Screamed Sasuke, clearly freaked out. He tried to back away from the man.

Tsuna saw red.

Literally! Sky flames erupted around him to respond to his rage.

Later Tsuna would reflect his flames felt different from usual. He had never felt such a rage.

In a flash that wasn't only Sky flames, he was flying towards his team-mate and had planted both his feet in the man's face, propelling him away from his team-mate.

He immediately crouched down and gathered the raven in his arms to shield him from the older man.

The moment he touched Sasuke, flames exploded around them.

Bright red flames.

Flames that weren't Sky flames. And more importantly, they weren't his flames.

And all Tsuna could think as he looked in Sasuke's shocked eyes was: Mine!

**TBC.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, how evil was that. Who saw something like this coming? XD Sasuke with flames!
> 
> For those who wonder, I don't plan to bash Kiba, I like the guy, but he always seemed too arrogant in the beginning of the anime. He has the same flametype as Sasuke, and with an active Sky around there's bound to be tension.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> Also, I'll be posting a poll on my profile page (FF.net, same username). I'd like your thoughts on Tsuna's new Mist guardian. Don't forget to vote! ;)


	14. Harmonization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for all your wonderful comments and reviews! I really appreciate it!
> 
> Not much happening this chapter, but I still hope you'll enjoy it xD

He woke up with a start. He was panting harshly and even laying down, he could still feel himself shaking.

He closed his eyes again and focused on his breathing. He could hear his team-mates, so he knew he was safe for now. He could give himself a little while to settle down again.

He tried to focus on their voices.

"... to get to that tower as fast as possible. Those burns need to be properly treated, Sakura."

"You've been burned as well. And we still need a second scroll."

They were softly speaking to each other.

He took a deep breath, opened his eyes and carefully tried to sit up. He groaned as he felt his muscles protest.

Conversation halted and his team-mates immediately scrambled towards him.

"What happened?" He groaned.

"We were attacked by that grass nin, remember Sasuke-kun?" Sakura stared anxiously at him.

For some strange reason she kept more distance with him than usual.

Naruto gently presented him with a flask and helped him drink some water.

He shivered as he remembered the creepy shinobi who had managed to paralyze him in fear more than once.

"I remember. Where is he? She?"

"I don't think they introduced themselves." Naruto replied calmly with a small smile.

Sasuke immediately felt himself relax at that. He frowned lightly at the blond, not having expected such a reaction.

"They left after... How much do you remember?" Naruto eyed him cautiously.

"They were talking to me." Sasuke grit his teeth. "You had been thrown away, and somehow, they... I couldn't move. They said things to me, about me being a disappointment of an Uchiha for not having my Sharingan yet. That they could give me the power I wanted, that I would seek them out for that power and leave the village."

Why was he saying all this? Admitting to such a weakness? He had been useless against their enemy... Useless... He turned away from the blond sitting next to him.

Naruto briefly whispered something to Sakura and the girl left them.

Sasuke eyed her as she walked away from them. She almost seemed relieved? He used Naruto's distraction to quickly observe his surroundings. Briefly he was confused, not recognizing anything around them, but he quickly realized they were hidden half-underground, between the roots of what had to be a giant tree.

"She's going to stand guard." Naruto explained.

Sasuke eyed the blond. Naruto seemed to become nervous. He kept eyeing him as if Sasuke would bolt from him. "What's wrong?" he questioned the blond.

Naruto bit his lip.

Sasuke arched an eyebrow.

"It seems we've harmonized." blurted the blond.

"We've what?" Sasuke repeated with a frown.

"Harmonized. You're my Storm Guardian. Well, the bond isn't complete yet, it's just a start, but with time and practice we'd-"

"Harmonize?" Sasuke interrupted, feeling a rant coming. "Like how you bonded with Zabuza?"

"Not quite." Naruto grimaced and started fidgeting.

"Harmonization isn't... I couldn't have... not with them... I mean..." the blond started waving his hand around, frantically trying to explain but he kept interrupting himself.

Strangely enough enough, Sasuke didn't feel himself becoming irritated. He smirked fondly at the blond as he reached out and grabbed his hands.

"Take a deep breath, Naruto, and try explaining that again. I didn't understand any of that."

The blond blushed. "Well... I bonded with both Zabuza and Iruka. They have the possibility of Harmonizing with me, but as things are now, it's impossible for them. I didn't think I could possibly harmonize with anyone... I -"

"What's the difference?" He felt strangely patient with the blond, but he wasn't going to wait much longer than necessary.

"You know the basic about flames right?" asked the blond.

Sasuke nodded. "You probably know that Zabuza has a Cloud flame and Iruka a Rain flame and that I bonded with them. Flame bonds are precious and in the end I will bond with at least one person of each flame type. You are a Storm."

"And you bonded with me?"

"Yes and no, bonding is the first step, the most basic step. Harmonization takes such a bond and makes it more... Just more."

Sasuke frowned at the other. "You're really not making any sense here. What's the difference?"

"Activating flames is considered an Uzumaki bloodline. I didn't think I could ever Harmonize with anyone here, because Harmonization requires both parties to be flame active."

Sasuke blinked. "Wait, you mean to tell me that I... I think I would remember setting myself on fire." he replied sceptically.

Naruto chuckled shakily. "You did."

"No, I didn't."

"You clearly didn't realize you did, but you did. You couldn't control it, that's why Sakura and I got burned." he motioned to his arms.

Sasuke only now registered the bandages covering Naruto's hands and underarms. It shook him, realizing he had unknowingly hurt both his team-mates.

"It wasn't that bad." Naruto tried to reassure him. "I can help you learn to control it later, if you want."

Sasuke nodded and felt himself relax again as Naruto laid one of his hands on Sasuke's shoulder.

"So Harmonization... It's different from bonding? How?" He didn't want to think about the burns that probably still hurt Naruto, even now when the blond was too busy reassuring Sasuke.

"At their most basic Harmonization and bonding are the same. I am bonded to Zabuza now, should he one day actually be able to make those flames useful, we could Harmonize and he could become a real guardian. Now, if I make him my guardian and give him the right ring, it would be a symbolic relationship. He wouldn't be able to use flames or that ring."

"Ring? Like the one we found in Uzu?"

Naruto nodded. He took his own ring from his finger. "Try it."

Sasuke could almost feel the blond's tension in the air and carefully took the ring. He didn't put it on though. It just didn't feel right. This ring could never be his. Strangely, he seemed to instinctively know this.

"At this point in time, neither Zabuza or Iruka can use their flames, they couldn't... I don't feel like I'm explaining this right..."

"I think I get it. Those rings from Uzu are like status symbols. The people who get one, are called guardians, but only once guardians can use their flames, like you, can they use a ring as well. But how can you use a ring? What do they do?"

"That's right." Naruto sighed, looking relieved. "On the way back from Uzu to Konoha, you saw what I did with that ring, my flames and that orange box, yes?"

"Yeah?" Sasuke thought back. Right that had been when Naruto had somehow summoned that weird little lion.

"Since my box exists, I'm assuming their will be others as well... Somewhere... But flames are handy in a fight!" the blond scrambled to reassure him. "Storm flames are known as Highly Offensive Flames. Their special trait is Disintegration, meaning decaying and breaking apart anything they touch, even other Flames."

Sasuke's mind seemed to work in overdrive as he heard that. He felt himself smirking as he thought of the possibilities of using such a power in combat.

"How do I access them?" he asked eagerly.

Naruto hesitated. "You should rest some more, you-"

"No! Please just..."

Naruto frowned. "There isn't much I can do. It's all tied to your resolve. Your determination to do something. You need to focus, in here." He laid his hand on the centre of his chest.

Sasuke closed his eyes and concentrated. He needed this power. With this he could easily beat Itachi! He let his feelings of hate for that man consume him and when he opened his eyes, all he was doing was glaring at the blond, who flinched back from him.

"It didn't work." He grit his teeth, trying to reign in those hateful feelings.

"I-it isn't that e-easy." stammered the blond. "O-otherwise everyone could use their f-flames."

Sasuke took a deep breath. He didn't like seeing Naruto afraid of him. "What's your resolve then?"

"I- I just..." the blond looked embarrassed and red as a tomato, but this time he didn't shrink away from Sasuke. He looked the Uchiha right in the eyes.

"I just want to be happy, with the people I consider family. I would do everything to see them safe."

"So... Protecting people. That's your resolve." Sasuke asked with a frown.

Naruto smiled gently at him. Sasuke blushed. He could actually see the flowers appearing around the blond.

"It is my resolve, but it doesn't have to be yours. Still I think it's the same for most people. Like Haku said once during training: When you're fighting to protect someone precious to you, only then can you be truly strong."

Sasuke looked away, a cold feeling washing over him. "I don't have anyone like that." he muttered angrily. "Not anymore."

"You have your team now. And me. If you want, I can be your Sky. No one will ever be able to break that bond. Let me show you, just a bit of what we could have." He smiled brightly as he offered Sasuke a hand coated in soft orange flames.

Sasuke hesitated briefly, but his curiosity got the better of him.

He placed his hand in the blond's. Naruto's smile managed to become even brighter.

There were no words for this feeling. He could feel Naruto's flames gently cradling his own, almost as if petting them. He could feel his flames. He felt them reach out towards the blond. Almost as if he could see them, red flames seemed to spring forwards, intertwining with the orange ones from Naruto.

Sasuke's eyes closed as he basked in the feeling.

It should feel strange, but all he could feel was peace, calm and the feeling of coming home for the first time in years. He basked in the feeling. He craved it. He hadn't realized how tense and irritated he had always been the last few years. How lonely he had been. No, that he would never be again.

He felt his body sag, almost melting in the blissful feeling.

He would never give this up. It might be selfish but he would never again go back to that lonely hell his brother had created for him.

"Gently. Take deep breaths now, it can be a little overwhelming." Naruto whispered with a smile as he gently hugged the raven.

Sasuke obeyed almost without thinking. This feeling... Through Naruto's flames he could feel the blond. He could feel the blond on an almost emotional level.

"This is what it means to Harmonize." He heard Naruto say.

He never wanted this to stop. "I want that ring."

Naruto chuckled. "Of course. As soon as we get out of this place."

**TBC.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke has flames! Hopefully this chapter isn't too confusing, but I really tried to explain the difference between bonding and Harmonizing. Just to be clear, it's not because Tsuna is bonded to Zabuza and Iruka, that they can't harmonize later on! At this point in time, Tsuna doesn't have any official Guardians, except now for Sasuke.
> 
> Some people, like TheVirtuvianComplex on AO3 have asked for a POV change, so I hope I didn't disappoint ;-)
> 
> Let me know what you think.


	15. Rewrite

THIS IS NOT AN UPDATE!

Flames of Resolve started as something of a vague idea. What would happen if…? I never would have imagined how many people would come to love this story. Your support has blown me away! Still, I have been thinking for a while about the plot of this story. Until now, I made things up as I went along, but I was never very happy with the first chapters… Don't shoot me, but for what I have in mind, the beginning it has now just didn't fit… I've been thinking hard and thought if I just rewrote the beginning the problem would be solved, but… It didn't, because other parts didn't fit anymore.

I've been working on this **rewrite** since the last chapter of this story has been posted. I already have done a lot of work. The first few chapters are done and updates will be regular until at least the summer. The first chapter will be posted today, so please go see what I did and let me know what you think.

Thank you for all your patience and I hope you guys won't want to shoot me for this ^^'


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